THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


\ 


CHIMALMAN, 

AND  OTHER  POEMS 


BY 

GRACE   ELLIS   TAFT 

Author  of  "Cayuga  Notes,"  former  correspondent  of 
"American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental  Journal," 
and  Member  International  Congress  of 
Americanists,  and  American  An 
thropological  Association 


THE  CAMEO  PRESS 

NEW  YORK 

MCMXVI 


Copyright,  1916, 

By  The  Author, 

GRACE  ELLIS  TAFT 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 
All  Rights  Reserved 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED  TO  MY  MOTHER 
MARY  HALL  TAFT 


A  stela  of  Palenque  bears  the  glyphic  of  its  king, 
So  evermore  on  childhood's  thought  a  mother's  touches  cling: 
She   fashions   into   miracles   the   life's   primeval   clay. 
And  carves  to  its  enraptured  prime  the  idol  of  her  day; 
Thy  love  restores  the  lens  of  truth,  to  concentrate  in  one, 
Beams  hidden  in  the  dusty  air,  still  golden  from  the  sun! 
(New  York,  April  4,  1916.) 


6 


O 


FOREWORD 

The  sweet  idyllic  story  of  "  Chimalman  "  is  unique 
among  Indian  myths,  being  absolutely  native  to  Mex 
ican  folk-history,  from  their  genesis  in  north-central 
Mexico  about  the  year  700  A.  D.  When  conquest 
brought  Christian  history  into  this  mission  field,  the 
Jesuit  and  Franciscan  fathers  were  greatly  astounded 
by  the  similarity  of  this  tale  to  the  beautiful  religious 
version  of  the  Virgin  Mary's  life.  Their  belief  was  that 
the  "  Chimalman  "  story  was  a  grotesque  perversion  of 
some  Biblical  narrative  caught  from  the  lips  of  an  edu 
cated  white  captive;  but  later  investigation  proves  it 
to  be  an  original  Mexican  idea,  nearly  a  thousand  years 
old  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest.  It  is  only 
given  in  brief  in  any  books  at  the  author's  disposal,  and 
she  has  read  much  in  both  public  and  private  libraries. 
All  characters  have  been  the  creation  of  the  author's 
fancy,  except  the  general  idea  of  "  Chimalman  "  and 
the  identity  of  the  deities  of  the  Aztec  pantheon.  The 
plan  of  this  series  of  tiny  plays,  is  to  introduce  a  sin 
gle  scene  in  the  life  of  the  god  Quetzalcoatl  in  each 
one;  and  a  further  series  of  plays,  already  begun,  will 
complete  this  Quetzalcoatl  Cycle  in  a  dozen  playlets, 
with  connecting  lyrics  to  complete  the  idea.  Three 
only  of  these  plays  are  included  in  the  present  volume. 

ROSE  DE  VAITX-ROYER. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHIMALMAN 9 

TECPANCALTZIN 88 

TEOTEUCTLI 57 

XTACUNBIL  XUNAN  (THE  HIDDEN  LADY)   ....  79 

ZUBAK  (THE  FLUTE) 81 

To  WILLIAM  H.  HOLMES 83 

To  EDWARD  H.  THOMPSON 84 

To  PROFESSOR  MARSHALL  H.  SAVILLE 87 

STORM   ECHOES 95 

THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS  96 


CHIMALMAN 

LIST  OF  CHARACTERS 


Sisters,    dwelling    in 
Tulan. 


CHIMALMAN,  "  The  Green 
Shield,"  youngest. 

TEMICTU,  "  The  Dream,"  sec 
ond. 

TLILLI,  "  Black,"  eldest. 

TECPANCAI/TZIN,   "  Lord  of  the  Ruling  House,"  king 
of  Tulan. 

CITLALATONAC,  "  The  Morning 
Star,  known  also  as  Tonaca- 
tecutli,  "  Lord  of  Life." 


QUETZALCOATL,    "  The    Feath- 


Aztec  gods. 


ered  Serpent,"  his  son,  who 
has  fallen  from  Paradise  for 
disobedience. 

SCENE:    In  Tulan,  a  forest  glade,  below  the  palace 
of  Palpan. 

(Enter  three  Aztec  sisters.) 

TEMICTLI.      (Swigs.) 

Shortens  the  ceiba's  shadow 

On  meadows  of  the  sun, 
And  chirimoya  branches 

Bear  white  bells  every  one; 
9 


Forth  comes  the  King  of  Tulan 

In  gold  all  glistening, 
That  like  the  sunbeam  sparkles, 

To  greet  the  Sun,  our  King! 
Forth  comes  the  King  of  Tulan, 

Resplendent  in  his  pride, 
To  greet  his  Sire  supernal 

By  whom  he  is  deified; 
Beneath  the  chirimoya 

And  ceiba's  fringy  tent, 
His  trembling  tribal  children 

Join  in  the  sacrament! 

TL-ILLJ.     Here  let,  us  drain  the  chirimoya's  fount 
Of  fragrance;  till  our  spirits  drowse  upon 
The  warming  breezes,  like  those  flower-bells 
Wherefrom  the  wings  of  morning-dew  have  fled 
Before  the  flocking  sunbeams,  and  the  flight 
Of  broad-winged  butterflies  as  bright  as  they: 
Upward,  the  leafless  forest  crowds,  with  lure 
Of  white  and  golden  blossoms  on  the  bare 
Outstretching  limbs  the  changing  year  re-clothes, 
Above  the  hedge,  whose  sheltering  gown  infolds 
The  flowery  garden  from  a  stranger's  eye, 
And  our  thatched  cottage  only  overpeeps 
Entwining  bushes  to  assure  us  safe. 

CHIMALMAN.     Within  the  hedge  the  sweetest  roses  blow. 

TEM.     Along  the  open  highway  glides  my  gaze 
To  the  broad  terrace  throning  Tulan's  king; 
Rarer  the  blossoms  cherished  at  Palpan. 

10 


CHIM.     Upon  the  wayside,  thorns  and  pebbles  lie, 
And  many  paces  stretch  from  here  to  there. 

Ti..     Sisters !     Along  the  palace  steps,  a  flock 
Of  maids,  attired  and  tongued  like  paroquets 
Shrieking  across  the  carven  gateway's  gods, 
Bear  a  long  chain  of  buckets,  from  the  lake; 
And  others  writhe  like  monkeys,  back  and  forth, 
Naked  and  dripping,  till  the  stones  are  scoured 
White  as  Iztaccihuatl's  coverlet, 
Worthy  to  face  the  glories  of  the  sun. 

TEM.     (Sings.) 

Adobe  walls  my  father's  house ; 

Of  rushes  is  our  roof  entwined; 
But  for  the  King  of  Tulan's  spouse 

A  spacious  mansion  is  designed: 
Of  feathers  from  a  tinted  bird, 

Her  mantle  is ;  gold-hung,  her  gown ; 
Ah !  might  some  kindly  god  afford 

To  change,  for  hers,  my  robe  of  brown! 

CHIM.     (Sings.) 

Her  roses  climb  a  marble  wall, 

A  simple  trellis  bears  my  flowers ; 
She  listens  to  the  fountain's  call, 

The  mountain  brook  delights  my  hours ! 
The  golden  chains  of  high  estate 

Confine  her  to  a  small  demesne; 
Fetterless  as  a  bird's,  my  fate ! 

I  would  not  change  for  Tulan's  queen ! 
11 


TEM.     Contented  one,  not  empty  fancy  fills 
My  head,  with  dizzy  joy  anticipant; 
For  Ochpaniztli,  summer's  festival, 
Discovered  me  to  the  discerning  eye 
Of  Tecpancaltzin,  Tulan's  sovereign. 
The  black-haired  one,  our  elder  sister  here, 
Was  of  the  mother-queen's  attendant  maids, 
And  I  among  the  dancers  drew  his  gaze 
By  that  soft  mien  that  won  my  name  "  The  Dream  " ! 
You,  little  one,  too  young  for  palace  pride, 
Saw  not  the  look,  nor  heard  his  words  of  praise : 
Who  says,  Temictli  should  not  thence  aspire, 
"Fairest  of  maids,"  by  Tulan's  king  declared? 
A  thousand  roses  should  delight  you  then, 
Dear  Chimalman,  as  sister  of  the  queen ! 

CHIM.     Ah,  is  it  so,  then?     Shadow  of  destiny, 
Blight  not  our  garden,  prithee!  but  depart! 

(Sings.) 
Hast  thou  been  far?     How  should  I  say? 

With  me  art  thou,  asleep  or  awake, 
Painting  my  dreams ;  and  my  eardrops  betray, 

Thy  trembling  image,  my  life-pulses  shake. 

TEM.     Were  it  but  you,  how  true  your  words  would  be. 
CHIM.     Home-roses  please  my  heart.     No  canker  eats 

Their  tender  petals  by  court  jealousies. 
TL.     What  will  the  roses  say,  if  dewy  mouths 

Twinning  their  sweetness,  hearts  disclose  of  gall? 

If  Tecpancaltzin  truly  should  observe 


The  beauty  of  Temictli,  pleasant  would 

Our  duty  be,  to  doubly  honor  her 

As  sister  cherished  and  as  queen  adored. 

(Sings.) 
Climbing  the  cliff,  I  thee  beheld  one  perfect  hour, 

Lovely  as  myrtle  by  my  side! 
My  heart  thou  pluckest,  as  I  pluck  a  flower! 

Alas,  our  onward  paths  divide ! 
Mine  only  is  the  memory,  maiden  dear ! 
Where  fall  thy  footsteps,  love  shall  follow  near! 

TEM.     (Speaks.) 

Solid  as  any  epitaph  my  facts, 
Although  you  flout  them.     Should  I  further  go, 
To  state  what  glances  and  what  messages 
Revolved  in  buzzing  circles  round  my  charms, — 
But  Chimalman  is  dreaming !     Tlilli  laughs ! 
For  sympathy,  commend  myself  to  gods ! 

TL.     Look  to  the  chirimoya  for  your  peer, 
Temictli,  even  within  your  sisters'  eyes, 
Sated  with  charm  familiar ;  but  the  queen 
Of  Tulan  by  her  sovereign  nature  rules. 
If,  in  your  bosom,  thoughts  magnanimous 
Temper  the  fires  of  pride,  and  constancy 
Steadies  the  arm  of  resolution  'gainst 
Assaults  of  flattery  and  self-regard, — 
Such  queenly  nature  might  demand  a  king: 
Spoil  not  our  pleasure  with  unreason's  frown ; 
Friends  give  one  softer  state,  than  a  thousand  slaves. 

13 


(Smgs.) 
A  queen's  heart  must  a  palace  be 

Fair  of  design; 
Not  lovelier  in  symmetry 

Its  outward  line, 
Than  in  perspective  of  bright  rooms 

For  regal  state, 
Dim  chambers  and  mysterious  glooms 

Love-consecrate ; 
A  throne  for  the  judiciary 

Of  courtiers'  care ; 
A  charming  nest,  where  melody 

May  friends  ensnare; 
A  chapel, — where  the  queen  resides, 

God-reconciled ; 
And  many  a  pretty  corner  bides, 

Soft  for  a  child ! 
So  various  must  her  nature  be 

For  sovereign  might; 
A  palace  beautiful,  is  she 

In  the  king's  sight! 

TEM.     Ah,  but  the  bright  eye  lures  the  bird  withal; 
And  eagle-wings,  shiningest  locks  entangle ! 

(Sings.) 

Pattern  of  kingliness,  he ! 
Voice  like  a  roar  of  the  sea, 
Storm-cloud  the  jet  of  his  hair, 
Lightning  his  glances  declare; 
14 


Where  may  the  equal  serene 
Find,  for  such  kingship,  a  queen? 

Cheek  of  magnolia  bloom, 
Eyes  deep  as  midforest  gloom, 
Foot  of  the  antelope  fleet, 
Throat  of  the  canyon  wren  sweet; 
Brave-heart  his  power  disowns, 
Beauty  beside  him  enthrones. 

Frail  as  the  maguey  flower 
Sword-leaves  encircle  in  power, 
She  by  his  sovereignty  held, 
He  by  her  loveliness  quelled; 
Honeys  of  maguey,  her  charm 
Soon  may  the  conqueror  disarm ! 

TL.     Did  Meconetzin,  piercing  the  tough  rind 
First,  at  the  root  of  that  tall  waving  plume 
Of  cloudlike  blossom,  taste  its  secret  sweet 
And  drive  all  revellers  with  mezcal  mad, 
Merely  that  parrot-shrieking  vanity 
Might,  in  such  likeness,  self  intoxicate? 
Still  in  Palpan,  the  throne's  unoccupied, 
And  rich  in  ancestry  alone  are  we. 

(Sings.) 

Whiteness  of  dawn  up  the  parapet  ran 
Of  that  fortress  of  ancientry,  fabled  Aztlan! 
Their  myriads  out-peopling  the  fields  of  their  sires, 

15 


Arose  the  rude  Aztecs,  ere  daylight  expires : 
Beyond  their  White  City,  by  forest  and  stream, 
They  followed  to  eastward,  the  lure  of  a  dream ; 
Borne  on  the  bosom  of  Lake  Chapallan, 
Too  soon  were  they  parted  from  mother  Aztlan. 

The  Hummingbird-god  and  his  sister  led  on; 
Till,  discord  unknotting  a  clan's  unison, 
Popocatepetl,  enthroned  in  the  clouds, 
Frowned  down  from  his  smoke-wreaths  on  quarreling 

crowds : 

Through  a  fair  verdant  valley,  his  sister  forsook 
The  brother  whose  dearness  her  city's  name  spoke ; 
But  brother  Mexitl  the  mountains  o'erran, 
And  settled  his  folk  on  the  plain  of  Tulan. 

Oh,  Place  of  the  Sun!     By  the  hand  of  a  god 
Were  thy  hesitant  tribes  weaned  from  older  abode, 
To  the  shining  Atoyac  meandering  below 
The  Hill  of  the  Serpents,  whose  battlements  show 
Pie-colored  and  gay  as  the  hummingbird  wing 
That  emblems  Mexitl,  their  founder  and  king, — 
Thou,  Huitzilopochtli !  more  godhead  than  man, 
Whose  foresight  provided  our  palace,  Palpan. 

TEM.     Palpan,  the  many-colored  paradise, 
Whose  rainbow  walls  and  sculpture-guarded  gates 
Beguile  fantastic  dreams  from  humdrum  toil, — 
There  might  a  slave  kneel  by  a  sandstone  mill 
Grinding  my  bread,  as  I  reclined  at  ease. 

16 


Ti>.     Lazy  Temictli,  turn  those  busy  eyes 
Upon  our  gate;  this  labor  you  enjoy 
To  gaze  abroad!     Now,  tell  what  stranger  comes. 

TEM.     Taller  than  Tecpancaltzin,  our  great  king, 
Shining  of  countenance,  reverend  of  mien 
As  high-priest  of  Mexitl, — I  admire 
Some  prince  approaching!     On  his  will,  await! 

TL.     Down  to  the  wicket,  sisters,  fleetly  go ! 
(Exit  TlUli  and  Temictli.) 

CHIM.     Kings  have  no  import  on  a  morning  fair, 
And  the  hummingbird  flickers  emerald  through  my 

flowers ; 

Drink  at  the  lily's  cup,  sweet  messenger 
Of  deity,  and  tell  me  of  thy  lord. 

(Sings.) 
Say,  red  rose !     Which  of  the  spirits  kissed 

Thee  into  being,  whom  knew  I  not  yestre'en? 
Which  of  the  stars  condescends  to  assist 

Thee,  white  rose,  to  become  a  star  terrene? 
Butterfly,  resting  upon  the  bush,  I  pray 
Is  it  thy  wing  that  waves  in  the  yellow  rose-spray? 
(Speaks.)     Aye!  but  I  shiver;  for  the  motmot  skims 
Into  the  covert,  as  though  refuge  seeking 
And  a  hawklike  hovering  cloud,  pausing  a  moment, 
Steals  from  my  flowers  their  gorgeous  coloration. 
When  Tlaloc  lifts  his  vase  again,  is  season 
Enough  for  thee !     Fly,  cloud,  and  leave  the  sun 
Shining  again  upon  his  Toltec  child. 
And  yet,  a  fear  more  tangible  than  cloud, 

17 


Drives  me  to  follow  motmot  to  his  lair; 
How  very  soft  the  zephyr!     Yet,  I  tremble! 

(Enter  Quetzalcoatl,  floating  as  a  spirit  m  the  air, 

unseen  to  the  mortal  maid.) 
QUETZALCOATL.      (Singing.) 

Xochitlycacan ! 

How  far  from  thy  gate 

Thy  son  is  exiled, 

The  plaything  of  fate! 

How  dull  and  abhorred 

Are  flowers  of  Tulan 

Compared  to  thy  blooms, 

Xochitlycacan ! 

Xochitlycacan ! 

The  Place  of  the  Rose ! 

What  evil  impelled 

My  pranking  jocose? 

Forbidden  the  tree, 

I  laughed  at  the  ban 

And  plucked  of  thy  flowers, 

Xochitlycacan ! 

Xochitlycacan ! 
The  paradise  blest 
With  only  one  law, 
Our  Father's  behest ; 
Four  brothers  were  we 
Who  the  heavens  o'erran, 
18 


Till  I  stumbled  from  grace, 
Xochitlycacan ! 

Xochitlycacan ! 
Divinities  dwell 
Serene  in  thy  shade, 
Who  never  rebel; 
I  wander  forlorn, 
Neither  godhead  nor  man, 
And  long  for  thy  bliss, 
Xochitlycacan ! 

Xochitlycacan ! 
One  rose  have  I  hid 
More  golden  of  heart, 
More  fragrance  bespread, 
More  brilliant  of  hue 
Than  these  of  Tulan ; 
It  fades  in  earth-air, 
Xochitlycacan ! 

CHIM.     Oh,  but  a  dream  of  Paradise  is  mine; 
A  great  and  shining  rose  floats  in  the  air 
Like  a  comet,  whose  fragrant  exhalation  drowns 
Every  odor  of  my  starlike  older  flowers! 
What  here  portends?     Paradise  touches  earth! 
Within  my  hands  I  lift  thee,  loveliness 
Celestial!  whose  sweet  odors  drown  my  fears. 
A  weakness  of  sweet  ecstacy  overcomes  me ! 
Sisters,  I  tremble!     Sisters,  return!     Wherefore 
Do  I  know  the  gods  are  near,  yet  see  them  not? 

19 


(Enter  Citlalatonac,  the  god  shadowing  through  his 
human  semblance;  on  either  side,  the  sisters  Tlilli 
and  Temictli  advance,  with  adoring  gestures.) 

TL.     Where  plucked  you,  Chimalman,  that  wondrous 

flower, 
Overf raught  love  torn  from  captivity ! 

TEM.     Ah,    but    she    must    have    stolen    it    from    the 

king! 
Have  you  a  lover  then,  and  tell  us  not? 

CHIM.     No  lover  is  mine,  although  all-loving  I. 

TL.     Pardon,  good  sir,  our  unpremeditated 

Words;    for    such    flowers    bloomed    not    here    be 
fore. 

CIT.     This  flower  must  have  grown  in  Paradise. 

CHIM.     I  breathe  of  Paradise,  enfolding  it; 
Now  am  I  blest,  and  do  not  need  to  die. 

TEM.     If  gods  hear  blasphemy  of  Chimalman, 
Not  Tonaca-tecutli,  the  forgiving, 
Even  would  show  compassion  for  her  sin. 

CHIM.     The  Lord  of  Life  delights  in  worshippers ; 
Who  love  his  handiwork,  himself  they  love. 

TL.       Welcome  the  stranger  with  a  gift,  my  sister ; 
He  comes  from  far  Aztlan.     Give  him  the  rose. 
Hasten,  Temictli,  for  a  draught  of  pulque, 
Him  to  refresh  who  seeks  our  mighty  king. 
The  rose,  Chimalman ! 

(Temictli  disappears  into  cottage-doorway.) 

CHIM.  Paradise,  lost  to  me? 

Farewell,  dear  rose!     Sir,  pray  accept  the  flower. 

20 


CIT.       More  paradise  blossoms  by  sowing  paradise 
In  another's  hand.     This  you  will  not  regret. 

(Temictli  re-enters,  carrying  cup  and  pottery  ewer  on 
her  shoulder.) 

TEM.     Golden  the  cup  which  at  Palpan  is  lifted 
At  the  king's  carouse ;  but  in  our  earthen  mug 
Dwells  the  same  distillation  blessing  us. 
They  say  Tezcatlipoca,  the  twin  god, 
Laid  bare  the  maguey's  secret  to  our  sire, 
Great  Meconetzin,  lately  Tulan's  king : 
Heard  you  the  song,  that  a  pulque-inebriate 
Poet  went  chanting,  from  the  king's  high  feast? 

(Sings.) 
Who  is  the  goddess  of  glistening  hair, 

Within  the  maguey  hedge, 
Against  the  Toltec's  following  prayer, 

Raising  a  leaf's  sword-edge? 
Nymph  of  the  desert  or  dark  ravine, 

Enshrined  among  the  rocks, 
She  shuns  the  daylight's  prying  keen, 

Shaking  her  milkwhite  locks ; 
But  faces  soft  the  rising  moon, 

Tezcatlipoca's  hour, 
And  smiles  upon  their  little  son, 

Child  of  the  maguey  flower ; 
Him  only,  Meconetzin,  she 

Enfolds  upon  her  breast, 
Whose  honey-sweetness  magicly 

Weaves  visions  for  his  rest; 
21 


The  mother-milk,  with  soft  embrace 

To  Meconetzin  given, 
Now  brings  unto  the  Toltec  race 

All  here  they  taste  of  heaven ! 

CIT.       Well-pleased     with     song,     enlivened     by     the 
draught, — 

Thanks  to  you,  sisters  three !     Let  me  repose 

An  interval  among  the  ceiba's  roots, 

Before  my  pilgrim-staff  is  again  in  hand. 
TL.       Our  garden,  flattered  by  your  dalliance  here, 

Is    yours,    good    stranger,    while    you    choose    to 

stay! 

TEM.      Although  unknown  your  name,  be  welcome  here ! 
CIT.       I  am  Citlalatonac;  though,  to  you, 

"  The  Burning-Star  "  is  nothing  but  a  name. 
TL.        Grave  your  demeanor!     And  my  memory  gives 

Clue  to  Citlalatonac  only  as 

The  name  of  godhead,  first  supremacy 

Above  the  heavens !     Dustborn  man  are  you ; 

Yet  as  a  god  should  be  received,  I  pray 

Accept  our  welcome,  which  is  all  we  have. 

Within  our  cottage,  sisters,  let  us  turn 

For  cookery  to  cheer  our  visitor. 
CIT.      Grateful  your  kindness  to  my  weary  sense, 

As  this  delicious  turfage  at  the  root 

Of  twisted  ceiba ;  sweet  be  your  return. 
TL.       Chimalman,  leave  your  flowers ;  Temictli,  run. 

Past  are  the  hours,  and  far  he  goes  ere  noon. 
(Exewit,  the  sisters.) 


QUETZALCOATL  (returning,  sings.) 
Xochitlycacan, 
I  wander  forlorn 
Having  tasted  the  fruit 
Disobedience-born ; 
From  Paradise  thrust, 
I,  nor  godhead  nor  man, 
Find  no  pleasure  on  earth ; 
Xochitlycacan ! 

CIT.     Thou,  Quetzalcoatl ! 

QUETZ.  Mortal,  dost  thou  see 

Ethereal  god-shape?     Who,  I  pray  art  thou? 

CIT.     A  friend  of  mourners.     What  is  your  distress  ? 

QUETZ.      Friend,  of  such  subliminal  sense  thine  eyes 
Thus  to  observe,  when  earthly  grossness  fails, 
Some  brother-god  must  hide  beneath  thy  clay ! 
Not  to  the  laughter  of  an  idle  god, 
Would  I  betray  my  plight.     Nevertheless, 
Rightly  you  named  me.     Quetzalcoatl,  I ! 
Alas !     Was  I  not  happy  on  the  height  ? 
What  mischievous  Tzitzimime  accursed 
Me,  that  a  momentary  flout  of  boyish  pride 
Caused  me  to  overstep  my  sire's  command? 
Divine  Rose-Garden,  Xochitlycacan, 
Above  the  thirteen  heavens,  waving  soft 
Hands  of  a  thousand  blossoms,  at  the  feet 
Of  Tonaca-tecutli  lord  of  all ! 
My  father,  Tonaca-tecutli,  who 
Smiled  at  the  rivalry  of  brothers  four, 
23 


The  two  Tezcatlipocas,  black  and  red, 

Huitzilopochtli,  and  unhappy  me! 

Alas !  alone  in  disobedience, 

Who  from  the  merry  sports  of  brotherhood 

Was  thrust  and  all  the  joys  of  Paradise ; 

Because,  forsooth !  from  off  the  wondrous  tree 

At  the  garden's  heart,  covered  with  precious  bloom, 

The  flowers  of  heavenly  virtue,  that  delight 

The  eye  unfadingly,  which  are  forbid 

Even  the  gods  to  gather  from  their  stems, — 

I !  the  one  fool  in  heaven !     Luckless  I !  — 

Recklessly  tore,  in  showers  of  roses  off, 

Flinging  them  earthward.     Rashness,  I  repented 

Too  soon ;  but  all  the  heavens  were  afloat 

In  roses !     And  my  father  seeing,  frowned ! 

No  word  of  menace ;  but  his  will  I  knew, 

And  step  by  step  through  heavens  my  descent 

Trod  on  the  flowers  that  ordained  my  fall : 

The  gray  Tzitzimime,  the  spiteful  women, 

Laughed  as  they  twined  my  roses  in  their  hair ; 

And  emerald-skirted  Chalchiutlicue, 

And  Tlaloc,  lord  of  rains,  looked  pitying, 

For  heaven's  blossoms  resting  on  the  clouds 

Informed  the  rainstorm  with  their  fragrancy, 

And  earth  as  well  as  heaven  knew  my  sins ! 

Theirs  the  delight,  and  mine  the  bitterness ! 

Below  the  thirteen  heavens  I  have  fallen; 

No  resting-place  I  find  on  earth  awaiting 

For,  being  no  man,  no  earthly  self  is  mine ; 

Immortal  banned,  no  mortal  hope  have  I. 


CIT.      Softens  your  heart  by  depth  of  loneliness? 
Or  does  a  glimmer  pierce  your  darkling  pride, 
Of  sympathy  for  grief  your  father  feels? 

QUETZ.     Alas !     That  sting  I  do  not  dare  to  feel ; 
I  dwell  upon  my  own  deep  misery 
Lest  for  a  moment  I  remember  his, 
Who  gazed  on  me  with  sorrow-darkened  eyes. 

CIT.      Then  to  his  pity  may  not  you  appeal, 
Whereby  to  medicine  your  grief  sincere? 

QUETZ.     Doubt  not  my  courage,  but  I  do  not  dare. 

CIT.      His  anger  still  is  menace,  I  presume? 

QUETZ.      Nay,  his  affection  is  too  strong  for  rage: 
I  grovel  in  my  sorrow  at  his  feet 
And  dare  not  ask  for  pardon,  knowing  that 
My  careless  sin  betrayed  how  little  love 
I  bore  him,  who  so  well  had  cherished  me. 

CIT.      Renewed  affection  your  excuses  show. 

QUETZ.      Might  he  but  know  it  is  affection  true, 
More  simple,  more  intense  for  his  remove, 
And  not  mere  longing  for  the  bliss  of  heaven ; 
Then  would  I  plead  re-entrance  to  his  sight. 

CIT.      The  lord  of  heaven  would  interpret  truth. 

QUETZ.     Well  might  he  doubt,  when  thus  I  failed  before. 

CIT.     A  loving  son  is  readily  believed.     {Discloses  him 
self  in  brightness.) 

QUETZ.      The  Star  that  Burns !     It  is  the  Morning- 
Star! 

Citlalatonac,  thou?     My  father,  here? 
Thou,  Tonaca-tecutli,  come  to  earth, 
Wherefore  from  heaven  following  the  steps 
Of  thy  unhappy  offspring? 

25 


CIT.  To  perceive 

If  cankerous  pride  had  eaten  deep  thy  heart, 
Or  wert  thou  ready  to  return  to  heaven? 

QTJETZ.      This  much  of  pride  remains ;  I  could  not  bear 
My  brothers'  taunts,  the  ridicule  of  heaven, 
Should  I  return. 

CIT.  Remain  until  the  scar 

Of  hatred  heals ;  love  can  out-laugh  the  scorners. 

QUETZ.      Here  have  I  no  existence. 

CIT.  I  perceive 

A  way  whereby  to  bring  thee  unto  men, 
Teaching  of  heaven  while  your  hopes  revive. 

QUETZ.      Again  the  brightness  of  the  Morning-Star 
Burns  without  blighting  on  an  earthly  hill : 
The  sisters  three  approach,  and  I  unseen 
Await  your  will  when  bidding  them  farewell. 

CIT.      They  shall  be  instruments  for  your  release. 

(Enter  Tlilli,  Temictli,  Chimalman,  from  cottage.) 
TL.      Grave  sir,  I  thought  the  garden  was  on  fire. 
CHIM.       My  roses  are  not  withered ! 
TL.  Did  you  kindle 

A  beacon,  sir,  to  call  a  messenger? 
CHIM.     The  rose  upon  his  breast  shines  like  a  star ! 
TEM.     How    warm    the    air!    as    though    midsummer 

reigned ! 

TL.  I  faint !  Oh,  sir,  what  fear  upon  me  falls ! 
CHIM.  His  raiment  sparkles  now  at  every  seam! 
TL.  Sir,  have  compassion  !  — 

TEM.  Call  the  king,  I  pray !  — 

26 


CHIM.     A  thousand  beams  of  lightning  fill  his  hair ! 
TL.     Where  shall  I  hide?     The  light  is  everywhere. 
TEM.     It  is  the  Sun-god  here  on  earth  revealed. 
TL.     My  sin  I  know  not  — 
TEM.  Pride  of  mine,  begone !  - 

Never  shall  I  be  Tecpancaltzin's  queen! 
CHIM.      Around  myself,  some  delicate  breeze  imposes 

Relief  from  godhead.     Hither,  sisters,  run! 
TL.       Farewell,  Chimalman !     Breath  I  hardly  find,- 

Upon  the  grass,  I  stumble, —  Oh,  I  die !  — 
(Falls  to  earth.) 

TEM.        All  the  dark  horrors  of  the  sun's  embrace 
Deprives  of  motion ;  sisters,  f are-thee-well ! 
(Drops  beside  her  sister.) 

CHIM.       Alas !     I  see  the  brilliance,  but  feel  not 
The  blast  of  death  that  has  my  sisters  slain. 
Temictli,  raise  your  head !     Alas !  so  dully 
It  rolls  beneath  my  touch.     Tlilli,  look  up ! 
Both  dead?     But,  impossible!     Oh,  mighty  lord, 
Whosoever  thou  mayst  be,  help  thou  my  two 
Dearest  of  sisters,  loveliest  of  girls ! 

CIT.      Their  souls  already  to  the  abode  of  death, 
Unshining  Mictlan,  have  discerned  the  way. 

CHIM.       Again  the  miserable  brightness  springs 
Like  a  thin  cloak  about  thee.     Might  it  be 
More  like  the  sunshine,  giving  life  again, 
Than  like  the  lightning  fatal !     Tlilli,  dear ! 
Can  you  not  lift  your  eyelids?     Hark,  Temictli! 


A  stir  of  feet  along  the  highway  comes. 

Sisters,  dear  sisters,  might  you  breathe  again ! 
CIT.      They  build  the  cross,  thy  spirit  mounts  to  mine ; 

Mourn  for  your  sisters  other  time,  my  child; 

Learn  now  what  fate  awaits  you. 
CHIM.  Cold  misfortune 

Has  chilled  my  hearthfire  till  the  end  of  time. 
CIT.     Fate  wills  you,  mother  of  a  god  to  be. 
CHIM.     A  woman's  heart  is  prisoner  in  thy  hands. 
CIT.     Only  impurity  is  pressed  away; 

The  gentle  heart  is  warmed  to  life  renewed. 
CHIM.     Women  are  playthings  for  the  mirth  of  heaven. 
CIT.     One,    who,    in    heaven    spurned    his    birthright 
there, 

And,  fallen  to  earth,  finds  no  admittance,  begs 

A  mortal  body  for  a  penitent  god, — 

From  Chimalman,  whom  maiden  purity 

As  flawless  blossom  as  in  Tulan  grows, 

I  find  transfigured  by  this  blow  of  fate 

To  likeness  of  the  Rose  of  Paradise 

Which  I  return,  although  so  freely  given. 

Speak  for  thy  sad  despoiler,  Heavenly  Rose, 

To  the  heart  of  Chimalman,  until  she  sees 

The  floating  Quetzalcoatl  at  her  side, 

Exiled  from  heaven,  who  earthly  life  desires. 
CHIM.     How  am  I  suited  for  such  mighty  fate, 

A  simple  maid,  not  worldly  wise  nor  fair? 
CIT.     Fear  not;  although  divinity  appears 

Again  upon  me  in  a  shining  cloud, 

For  thou  hast  shield  against  my  majesty 

28 


In  purity  like  fleckless  mountain  snow. 

Not  Tlilli,  wise  in  home  and  courtly  ways, — 

No,  nor  Temictli,  by  her  beauty  queen, 

Might  thus  endure  my  plenitude  of  power. 

The  pride  of  knowledge  or  of  loveliness 

Is  chaff  upon  the  winds  of  heaven's  will ; 

But  the  kind  heart  remains,  like  golden  grain 

Gladdening  the  godhead  more  than  a  host  of  stars, 

And  the  pure  spirit  is  a  kindred  tie 

Between  a  mortal  and  immortal  sphere. 

CHIM.     Tlilli!     Temictli! 

CIT.  They  are  far  from  thee ; 

Their  bodily  husks  the  grasses  almost  hide, 
But  Mictlan  greets  their  souls,  their  truer  selves. 

CHIM.     No  more  to  see  them ! 

CIT.  When  the  blessed  day 

Dawns,  when  as  mother,  thou  the  god  delight 
By  giving  him  a  mortal  residence, 
Thou  shalt  be  lightened  of  thine  earthly  woes 
And  dwell  in  heaven;  thence  to  wander  freely 
Upward  to  paradise,  where  reigned  thy  son, 
Or  down  to  Mictlan  where  thy  sisters  dwell. 

CHIM.     Again  we  meet? 

CIT.  And  never  more  be  parted ! 

CHIM.     Blessed  the  day  — 

CIT.  Which  heaven's  blessing  seals ! 

CHIM.     Thy  will  is  mine, — 

CIT.  No  longer  broken-hearted ; 

CHIM.     My  sacrifice  — 

CIT.  New  hope  for  men  reveals! 

29 


(Enter  Quetzalcoatl,  floating  in  the  air,  seen  only  to 
Chimalman,  as  a  pale  green  wraith,  or  a  floating 
emerald-stone.) 
QUETZ.     (Sings.) 

Xochitlycacan ! 
No  longer  I  mourn 
Thy  vanished  delights, 
Nor  wander  forlorn ; 
The  heart  of  a  maid 
Creates  me  a  man, 
For  a  while  I  forget 
Xochitlycacan ! 

(He  vanishes.) 

CIT.     A  cloud  in  likeness  of  an  emerald-stone 
Enters  the  rosy  lips  of  Chimalman. 

CHIM.     Do  I  breathe  or  no?     The  world  transfigured 
Lies  about  me.     I  had  thought,  to  the  heavenborn 
Of  little  worth  terrestrial  scenes  would  be; 
Yet  my  uplifted  sense  discerns  a  glow 
Unseen  before  in  daylight.     A  thousand  forms 
Above,  below,  in  water  or  in  air, 
Within  the  earth,  my  startled  sense  perceives, 
Sounds,  delicate  perfumes,  thoughts,  immensities 
Of  feeling;  yet  I  feel  not  overwhelmed 
With  riches.     Supernatural  is  the  flood 
Of  spiritual  life  I  now  inhale; 
But  the  clear  purport  of  my  blessedness 
Drawn  from  the  fountain  of  celestial  light, 
Far-streaming  from  Citlalatonac's  form, 

30 


Is  the  fair  vision  of  a  floating  god 
Gazing  on  me  with  soft  celestial  looks 
Of  pleading  for  a  birthright  among  men ; 
And  the  warm  breath  of  one  desiring  birth 
Mingles  with  his  that  is  the  Lord  of  Life, 
Until  bright  heaven  all  my  veins  informs : 
Alas !     Mortality  between  two  gods, 
Maidenhood  undefended,  needs  must  yield. 

CIT.     A  bride  of  godhead  fears  no  earthly  harm. 

CHIM.     Unearthly  terrors  still  harass  her  way. 
The  face  of  Quetzalcoatl  disappears ! 

CIT.     Within  thee,  is  he  mystically  born. 

CHIM.     Am  I  still  Chimalman?     May  twain  be  one? 
Or  all  unknown  to  me  have  I  divided? 
Too  young  am  I  such  mysteries  to  know. 

CIT.     Knowledge  from  older  lips  has  not  polluted 
Thy  tender  mind,  at  its  maturity 
Blossom-like  soft,  though  ripening  at  the  heart; 
Nor  has  a  wind  of  chill  experience 
Toughened  the  sapling,  nor  has  sin  attacked 
The  delicate  buds  of  promise  unfulfilled. 
Perfection  of  simplicity  and  truth 
Must  have  attracted  Quetzalcoatl's  flight 
To  thee-ward,  the  one  excellent  piece  of  jade 
Worthy  to  grace  the  bosom  of  a  god ! 
The  one  fair  fountain  undefiled,  wherein 
The  Feathered-Serpent  might  regain  a  home 
Without  demeaning  his  divinity  ! 

CHIM.     Around  my  humble  self  a  veil  of  light 
Now  gathers. 

31 


CIT.  Evermore  to  cover  thee, 

Until  the  day  of  motherhood  arrives 
And  heaven  opens  to  receive  thy  soul. 

(Enter  King  Tec  pane  alt  zin.) 

TEC.     Tlilli!     Temictli!     Where    are    the    maidens 

three 

Herein  who  dwell?     Are  they  destroyed  by  fire? 
Pardon,  grave  sir !     I  saw  your  light  afar, 
And  feared  some  accident  to  those  who  give 
My  mother-queen  court-service  in  Palpan. 
Before  my  vassals,  I  arrive,  from  dread 
Suspicion  of  attacking  enemies. 
The  youngest  sister's  here.     What  means  the  blaze 
So  suddenly  extinguished,  though  so  bright? 

CHIM.     It  shines  before  you.     Kneel  to  heaven's  King! 

TEC.     Astonishment  unloosens  the  stiff  knees 
Of  royalty.     I  dare  not  further  face 
One,  who  in  lightning  clothes  his  majesty; 
Yet  is  the  simple  maid  more  brave  than  I, 
Monarch  of  Tulan,  Tecpancaltzin,  king, 
Whom  she  has  peradventure  knelt  before 
Without  my  noticing  a  paltry  child. 
Serene  her  smile  on  him  who  dazzles  me ; 
Her  face  reflects  the  glories  that  I  shun. 

CIT.     "  The  Morning-Star  "  shines  upon  "  the  Green- 
Shield"; 

Citlalatonac's  bride  is  Chimalman. 
Her  tender  bosom  shall  become  the  nest 
For  the  Feathered-Serpent,  godhead  come  to  earth, 


When  Quetzalcoatl,  as  her  son,  acquires 
Life  upon  earth  and  place  for  penitence. 

TEC.     Peasant  no  more ;  but  goddess,  in  the  light 
Reflected  from  divinity  you  wed! 
I  worship  humbly  before  Chimalman. 

CIT.     A  rose  of  paradise  gleams  in  her  hand, 
As  promise  of  the  tender  babe  to  be; 
And  thenceforth  be  her  earthly  name  "  The  Rose," 
Xochitl,  till  she  stands  at  Mictlan's  gate 
Demanding  at  my  hand  the  promised  key, 
Opening  to  her  the  portals  of  all  heavens ; 
Thus,  who  Citlalatonac  has  espoused, 
May  find  in  spirit  immortality. 

TEC.     An  altar  to  Xochitl  shall  be  raised. 

CIT.     Not  before  death.     Womanly  must  she  dwell, 
Protected  by  strong-handed  men  from  harm. 

TEC.     Palpan,  the  palace  fortress  that  a  god 
Founded  long  since,  twice-hallowed  now  becomes 
Enshrining  her,  whose  bridehood  with  a  god 
The  Toltecs  shall  discover  and  revere, 
When  Tecpancaltzin  to  his  throne  returns. 
(Rising.) 

CIT.     Fare-thee-well,      Chimalman!     Midnight      shall 

bring 

My  image  to  thy  soul;  the  sunbeams  carry 
Messages  from  my  heavenly  height  to  thee, 
Whom  in  the  other  world  I  shall  await 
Until  thy  faithful  compact  is  performed. 
CHIM.     Brief  is  the  smile  of  heavenly  regard. 

33 


CIT.     Earth  is  no  dwelling-place  for  heaven's  king; 
Joys  here  abbreviated,  shall  renew 
Sweeter  for  loss,  in  death's  eternity. 
(He  disappears.) 

TEC.     Revives  my  courage  as  the  brightness  goes, 
And  heaven's  lord  to  heaven's  gate  ascends. 

CHIM.     My  childish  tongue  falters  at  loneliness 
Never  endured  before,  nor  to  be  expressed. 

TEC.     Madam,  your  king  awaits,  your  faithful  slave. 

CHIM.     Gone  is  the  moment  of  unfathomed  love, 
Gone  are  my  sisters. 

TEC.  I  behold  them  now. 

Alas !  of  feebler  mould  than  you  were  these ! 

CHIM.     The  snake  beside  Temictli!     Frighten  it 
Away !     The  butterfly  on  Tlilli's  hand ! 
Everything  knows  them  dead  except  my  heart. 

TEC.     Madam,  the  field  of  sorrow  here  informs 
Your  recent  home  with  mortuary  gloom. 
Permit  me  hither  to  command  my  slaves, 
That  due  regard  your  sisters  may  receive 
From  priestly  hands.      First,  shall  they  be  removed 
Into  the  chamber  lately  echoing 
Their  girlish  laughter;  and  a  palanquin 
For  you  shall,  golden-tasselled,  bring  two  maids 
Upon  you  to  attend,  of  noblest  grade, 
Worthy  your  state  as  Bride  of  Heaven's  King. 

CHIM.     Kindness  relieves  impatient  sorrow's  thrall; 
Go,  and  return  as  suits  your  friendly  will, 
Whose  courtesies  I  quietly  await 
34 


Alone  with  my  dear  Tlilli  and  Temictli, 
Whom  the  far-spreading  ceiba  shadows  now 
From  bright  mid-morning.     Not  an  hour  away 
Was  their  delicious  rivalry  of  words. 
TEC.     Thus  be  your  quality  within  my  state, 
Guarded  till  death  as  Tecpancaltzin's  queen. 
(Exit  Tecpancaltzin.) 

CHIM.      (Wandering  up  and  down.) 
Hateful  the  robbery  that  silence  makes, 
Depriving  me  of  the  sweet  melody 
Awakened  with  their  red  lips'  merry  motion! 
So  pale  their  roses,  and  so  dim  their  eyes! 
Oh,  grass,  cover  these  forms  unsisterlike ! 
Cold  Mictlan's  breath  I  feel,  and  hear  their  sighs 
Acknowledging  life's  impossibility. 
Shall  I  believe  the  keys  of  death  and  birth, 
Together  laid  in  my  so-ignorant  hands, 
Can  reunite  us  three  in  sisterhood? 
Yet  unto  heaven  they  may  not  follow  me ; 
Then  into  Mictlan  would  I  gladly  go ! 
How  is  it  possible  I  am  a  bride, 
And  that  soft  floating  form,  I  saw  as  god, 
Stirs  now  within  me  into  human  life? 
The  bride  of  godhead,  with  his  glory  shrouded, 
The  trees  our  tent,  the  heavens  my  home  to  be, 
And  the  bright  hope  of  Quetzalcoatl's  birth, 
Are  purpose  of  my  being  and  its  crown. 
Almost  again  I  feel  that  wondrous  thrill 
Of  deity's  illumination,  through 

35 


My  flesh  transformed  and  my  uplifted  mind; 

Flowers,  birds,  and  trees,  and  the  surrounding  hills 

Into  one  sphere  of  radiance  commingling 

By  that  soft  flood  of  overflowing  light, 

Melt  to  the  sapphire  of  heaven's  perfect  hour. 

(Sings.) 
Whom  to  regard,  my  sisters  or  my  spouse? 

Whom  to  believe,  the  vows  of  death  or  love? 
Ah,  might  the  former  into  life  arouse, 

Should  I  then  so  regret  my  lord's  remove? 

Unknown  to  me  is  love  in  earthly  guise ; 

And  death  indeed  is  far  more  tangible, 
Yet  in  his  presence  here  I  recognize 

Proof  of  my  love's  exceeding  miracle. 

Beyond  the  skies  ascends  love  from  my  heart, 

While    thirteen    heavens    between    impose     their 
weight ; 

Will  he  indeed  some  dream  to  me  impart, 
Whereby  to  find  assurance  of  my  fate? 

How  bright  must  shine  the  distant  "  Morning-Star," 

Citlalatonac,  for  Chimalman's  gaze 
Thereby  to  glean  her  promised  strength  afar, 
To  live  the  allotted  span  of  lonely  days. 

On  either  hand  a  phantom  shadows  me, 
With  lifted  vials  of  sorrow  and  delight ; 
36 


Alternate  showers  of  joy  and  misery 
Clarify  eyes  for  their  celestial  sight ! 

(She  bursts  into  weeping,  raising  her  hands  to  the  clear 
heaven;  while  a  palanquin  appears  at  the  gate,  and 
half-a-dozen  male  and  female  slaves  enter.  A  maid 
wraps  a  gold-weighted  mantle  around  Chimalman, 
whom  she  leads  out  of  the  garden  to  the  litter's  side.) 

(New  York  City,  April  3,  1908.) 


37 


TECPANCALTZIN 

LIST  OF  CHARACTERS 

TECPANCALTZIN,  Icing  of  Tulan. 

THE  TEOTEUCTLI,  or  High-priest. 

QUETZALCOATL,  "  Feathered  Serpent,"  foster-son  of  the 

king. 
QUETZALPETLATL,    **  Feathered    Carpet,"     the    king's 

daughter. 
CHALCHIHUITZL,  "  the  Precious 

Stone   of  Sacrifice,"   known 

once  on  earth  as  Chimalman. 


TLALOC,  "  Wine  of  the  Earth," 
lord  of  rains. 

CHALCHIUTLICUE,  "  The  Emer 
ald-Skirted"  Tlaloc's  wife. 


Aztec  gods. 


{Scene:     The  garden  of  the  king,  upon  Palpan.) 

(Enter  the  Teoteuctli,  with  the  king's   two   children, 

Quetzalcoatl  and  Quetzalpetlatl.) 
TEOTEUCTLI.     Frolicest  thou  enough,  Quetzalpetlatl  ? 
Rest  thou  awhile  with  me,  by  the  ceiba's  shade ; 
While  on  the  baby-god  I  wait,  until 
His  foster-father,  Tecpancaltzin,  comes. 

38 


Qp.     Wert  thou  a  butterfly,  to  play  with  me 

To  the  limit  of  wishing !     Rest  wearies  my  bones ; 

My  feet  ache  to  be  flying  after  the  squirrels. 
TEO.     Words  of  a  child  are  the  flutter  of  locust  wings, 

Destructive  to  fruitful  sense ;  but  the  words  of  eld 

Like  humming  of  bees  discover  the  honeycomb. 
Qp.     What  is  the  daylight  for  but  to  play  in? 
TEO.  Rest ! 

Would  the  flow'ret  fade  in  the  bud  from  excess  of 
heat, 

Ere  prime  of  beauty  and  pride  of  conquest  come? 
Qp.     Little  I  understand  in  the  storm  of  words 

Blown  from  your  cloudy  beard ;  but  I  delight 

In  the  soft  laugh  that  Quetzalcoatl  gives, 

Making  a  period  ever  as  you  pause. 
QUETZ.     Smile,  too,  Quetzalpetlatl ;  are  you  sad? 
Qp.     I  would  be  playing!     No.     What  sadness  is, 

I  have  heard  tell  of,  but  I  do  not  know; 

I  am  not  sad,  unless  that  means,  "  Keep  still " ! 
QUETZ.     How  many  years  have  I,  oh,  Teoteuctli? 
TEO.     Twice  must  you  live  to  know  the  Kin-Katun ; 

Imix  to  Manik  has  your  highness  learned. 

(Quetzalcoatl  counts  on  his  fingers  silently,  then 
speaks.) 

QUETZ.     My  years  are  seven ;  yet  I  have  been  sad. 
TEO.     Sorrows  of  seven  years  are  not  so  deep ! 
But  the  king  approaches.     Prince,  I  beg  of  you 
Stray  not  afar,  lest  Chevinic  from  the  woods 
Rush  to  ensnare  you!     Quetzalpetlatl,  heed 


Your  foster-brother's  wish,  till  I  return. 
On  Tecpancaltzin  am  I  waiting  called. 

(Exit  Teoteuctli.) 

QUETZ.     Girls  are  too  ignorant  to  know  of  grief. 
Qp.     I   have   wept   my   birdie's    death,    and   cried   for 
cakes ; 

On  homebound  days,  I  have  outwept  the  rain; 

Is  this  not  grief? 

QTZ.  Not  such  a  grief  as  mine; 

I  heard  a  word  dropped  by  your  grandmother 
Unknown  to  me  before,  and  knowledge  sought 
From  an  old  gardener  who  said  that  I, 
Being  a  god  and  fostered  by  a  king, 
Was  yet  the  saddest  little  elf  he  knew ; 
Thenceforth  a  grief  has  held  my  seven  years, 
Making  me  feel  more  ancient  than  the  priest. 

Qp.     Dear  Quetzalcoatl,  laugh  again  with  me; 
For  the  Teoteuctli  will  berate  me  so, 
Seeing  your  holy  dimples  filled  with  tears. 

QTZ.     I  am  not  crying;  why  do  you  gibe  at  me? 
Know  you  the  magic  word  I  learned  today? 

Qp.     Tell  me ! 

QTZ.  Two  syllables,  — 

Qp.     And  those  are, — 

QTZ.  "  Mother !  " 

Qp.     And  only  now,  you  learn  that  simple  word? 

QTZ.     The  priest  kept  still;  I  never  knew  I  had  one. 
He  only  called  me  son  of  heaven's  king. 

40 


Qp.     All  men  have  mothers. 

QTZ.  I  asked  the  gardener, 

Who  said  that  there  are  mothers  even  for  gods, 
And  mine  in  heaven  dwells ;  he  called  her  fair. 
Her  name  was  Chimalman,  "  The  Emerald-Shield." 

Qp.     A  fairy-tale,  I  am  sure !     You  are  the  king's  son, 
My  brother.     We  will  ask  the  Teoteuctli, 
If  you  and  Tecpanpilli,  gone  a-hunting, 
Are  not  my  father's  son  in  equal  grade. 

QTZ.     A  fairy  tale?      I  wonder. 

Qp.  Let  us  look  for  fairies. 

QTZ.     For  fairies? 

Qp.  Like  the  lily's  chime, 

Your  laughter  rings ;  already  find  you  one  ? 

QTZ.     Fairies  are  felt,  not  seen. 

(Enter  Tecpancaltzin  and  Teoteuctli.) 
QTZ.     Father,  what  joy! 
TECP.     My  darling  child,  run  to  the  palace  shade ; 

These  sunny  garden  paths  are  not  for  you, 

Where  the  golden  lance  of  Iztli  may  transfix 

Your  rash  intrusion  to  his  hot  domain. 

Alas  !  my  daughter !     (He  sighs.) 
Qp.  Father,  the  day  is  sweet; 

Yet  everywhere  I  stumble  upon  grief. 

You  weep,  and  Quetzalcoatl  — 
TEO.  But  not  I! 

Gray-headed  eld  discards  unworthy  tears ; 

Wrong  things  through  water  look  still  more  awry. 
TECP.     Play  with  your  brother,  child. 

41 


Qp.  Is  he  my  brother? 

TECP.     Your  only  brother !     Golden  as  the  corn 

Before  the  sun  has  singed  its  silken  curls, 

He  is  the  pearl  and  wonder  of  Tulan ; 

Its  only  hope  among  black-headed  churls. 

Slave  to  his  godship,  he  must  satisfy 

Your  spirit's  need  henceforth.     Inquire  not  why, 

Tears  stain  my  aged  cheeks  to  speak  of  him ; 

Play  as  you  will,  while  we  discourse  apart. 
Qp.     Think  you  Chevinic  hide  within  the  hedge, 

Striped   and  wild   as    chipmunks?     Come,   Quetzal- 

coatl. 
(The  children  wander  through  the  garden.) 

TEO.     A  rumor  reached  me,  lord,  grievous  for  you. 
TECP.     For  once,  my  friend,  truth  touched  the  lips  of 

rumor. 

TEO.     Your  son  is  dead? 
TECP.  With  Tecpanpilli  dies 

All  my  ambition. 
TEO.  To  be  born  anew 

Bright-winged  from  the  pale  circle  of  despair; 

My  king  is  manlier  than  his  speech  appears. 
TECP.     No!     Like   a   cloud   driven   by   the   winds    of 
fate, 

I  feel  and  know  some  other  grief  awaits ; 

The  spotted  serpent,  feeling  its  slow  way, 

Hisses  a  portent  in  the  tangled  grass. 

My  death  means  Tulan's  fall. 
TEO.     Nay,  but  the  girl? 

42 


TECP.     Is  but  a  girl,  and  softer  than  the  most, 
Made  but  for  swans'down  and  the  joys  of  life; 
My  only  hope  is  the  son  of  Chimalman, 
Strong  for  his  years,  and  intellectual 
Beyond  belief.     He  argues  with  me  now 
Quite  manlike.     Until  Tecpanpilli  died, 
Jealousy  bit  my  soul,  that  must  perceive 
Him  thus  superior  to  my  real  son; 
When  Tecpanpilli  died,  pride  fell  to  ground, 
With  him,  my  only  son! 

TEO.  No  less  admired, 

Your  royal  son  was,  born  of  earth,  than  he 
Called  child  of  godhead,  Quetzalcoatl,  here. 

TECP.     The  golden  breastplate  of  my  hope  he  was, 
Crown  of  my  conquest,  and  a  second  realm 
Wherein  I  ruled  far  more  enjoy  ably 
Than  in  Tulan.     My  son  had  only  fault 
Of  being  human ;  otherwise  I  saw 
No  speck  nor  spot  in  his  industrious  mind, 
That  found  out  mischief  ere  it  wisdom  craved; 
Though  Quetzalcoatl  be  a  paragon, 
My  joy  and  Tulan's  hope  were  in  my  son. 
These    half-tamed    tribesmen    loved    the    boisterous 

lad; 

And  their  assault  on  Quetzalcoatl  threatens, 
Deeming  his  advent  luckless  omen  for 
Prince  Tecpanpilli  and  Tulan's  estate. 
Guard  him,  good  priest,  although  my  hopes  be  dead ; 
For  grisly  death  sits  beside  Tulan's  throne. 

TEO.     What  stirs  among  the  feathered  pampas-grass 
Like  emanation  of  desires  to  fly? 


TECP.     The  spotted  serpent  shivers  last  year's  skin 
Upon  their  roots,  and  crawls  to  vivid  sheathe. 

TEO.     Have  I  again  mistakenly  discerned 
The  road  by  fortune  most  serenely  trod? 
These  many  days  ago,  a  noble  lord 
Entreated  that  the  feast  of  Tlaloc  be 
More  highly  honored  with  the  sacrifice, 
Not  only  of  a  thousand  village  babes, 
But  one  more  exquisite  of  form  and  mind 
Than  ever  Aztec  infant  was  revealed. 
Could  my  refusal  thus  have  drawn  rebuke 
From  heaven  and  Tlaloc,  stealing  in  the  place 
Of  Quetzalcoatl  immature,  thy  son 
Prince  Tecpanpilli  ?     Might  I  choose  again ! 

TECP.     No,  it  is  fate.     Nor  is  the  deed  recalled ; 
The  fatal  spear,  by  other  hand  discharged, 
That  slew  my  son,  was  heaven's  thunderbolt 
Drawn  to  some  misdeed  of  my  own,  not  yours. 

TEO.     The  children's  sport  disturbs  my  grieving  king. 

TECP.     No,  no  !  grief  would  drive  mad  in  solitude ; 
The  children  may  divert  me.     Bring  them  hither. 

TEO.     The  townsfolk  call  our  Quetzalcoatl  god, 
Forgetting  Chimalman's  inconsequence. 

TECP.     God  in  a  man  made  visible,  who  knows? 
Stranger  than  this  is  fate. 

TEO.  A  godhead,  he? 

He  is  no  better  than  a  village  brat, 
Whom  the  kind  hand  of  Tecpancaltzin  decks 
In  shining  garments  like  his  royal  son; 
Dreadful  his  horoscope. 

44 


TECP.  Tell  it  again. 

TEO.     Fame  has  discovered  that  his  grandfather 

First  drained  the  maguey's  juices,  and  his  fate 

Is  thus  foretold  by  the  holy  oracle: — 

"  Son  of  the  maguey  shall  be  Tulan's  king ; 

Soul  of  the  maguey  shall  be  Tulan's  fall." 
TECP.     Drunkenness  is  disgrace,  the  riddle  reads ; 

Strait  be  his  path,  and  Tulan  is  unshaken. 

Look  where  my  daughter  and  he  play  together! 

What  is  it  that  he  sees? 
( The  two  children  run  towards  King  Tecpancaltzin. ) 

QTZ.  A  spirit  comes  !  — 

Qp.     I  see  it  not. 

QTZ.  Or  goddess  more  divine. 

Qp.     Where  is  she? 

(Enter  Chalchihuitzl,  floating.} 
QTZ.  Tremulous  as  a  bird's  wing  beats 

My  heart,  and  I  pant  to  run  into  her  arms. 

Oh,  magical  warmth !  Oh,  wonder !  Who  is  she  ? 
Qp.  Humanity  dims  my  sight.  Where  is  she  seen? 
CH.  Child! 

QTZ.  Where  is  the  meaning? 

CH.  Son ! 

QTZ.  Oh,  no ! 

Is  it  my  mother  thus  that  I  behold? 
Qp.     Father,  he  raves !     The  sun  deludes  his  eyes. 
TECP.     Be  silent  and  observe. 

TEO.  His  eyes  are  stars. 

45 


(The  two  men  kneel  to  the  right  and  Quetzalpetlatl 
kneels  to  the  left  of  Quetzalcoatl;  Chalchihuitzl  bends 
above  the  boy,  having  been  once  his  mother,  "  Chim- 
alman") 

CH.     The  precious  stone  of  sacrifice,  am  I, 
Encircled  by  the  kindly  care  of  heaven 
For  that  soft  deed  which  consecrated  me, 
My  body  being  a  doorway  unto  earth 
For  him,  a  god,  who  is  now  a  little  child: 
Son !     Does  there  linger  in  your  ignorant  heart 
One  trembling  fibre  to  proclaim  you  mine? 

QTZ.     Mother!     Why,  it  seems,  I  had  always  known 
my  mother! 

Qp.     Out  of  the  sunshine  come,  dear  Quetzalcoatl. 

QTZ.     My  mother  shields  me  from  his  evil  rays. 

TECP.     My  son,  your  mother  is  not  here  today. 

QTZ.     Assuredly  she  smiles  upon  me  now. 

TEO.     Children     who    contradict     are     worse     than 
wasps. 

QTZ.     There  is  no  question,  for  her  hand  is  laid 
Upon  mine  own.     Silence !  she  speaks  to  me ! 

TECP.     Shelter  your  fear  within  the  palace  walls, 
Quetzalpetlatl!     You  are  all  I  have. 

Qp.     Can  he  perceive  what  I  do  not?     I  run. 
(Exit  Quetzalpetlatl.) 

TEO.     This  grove  of  cypress  and  entangled  vines 
May  shelter  us. 

(The  men  rise  and  retire  to  left  background.) 
46 


TECP.     A  shiver  in  the  grass 

Murmurs  a  fear  sepulchral.     Sit  here  beside  your 

king; 

Oh,  kindly  guard  of  wisdom's  treasury, 
My  peer  in  kingdom  of  long  years  are  you ! 
Listen  to  the  little  god!     I  look  in  vain, 
Her  to  behold  whom  he  as  mother  calls. 

TEO.     It  is  hallucination  of  the  heat ; 
Or  we  mistake,  from  gross  mortality, 
This  apperception  of  diviner  things. 

TECP.     Were  it  but  true,  and  Chimalman  alive; 
Might  Tecpanpilli,  too,  return  and  speak! 

QTZ.     My  mother ! 

CH.  Little  son ! 

QTZ.  A  plain  old  man 

Taught  me  that  word  today, —  only  today ! 

CH.     It  called  me  from  beyond  the  gates  of  death ; 
Your  lisping  voice  was  heard  by  all  the  gods, 
For  a  child's  heart  can  rise  through  thirteen  heavens, 
Above  omnipotence  in  tender  power. 

QTZ.     Suppose  I  had  not  called? 

CH.  You  had  not  seen! 

Often  have  I  observed  you,  like  the  moon 
O'erhanging  your  small  meadowland  of  life 
At  intervals ;  but  like  a  slumbering  flower, 
You  took  no  notice  of  the  caressing  face, 
Until,  today,  some  fortunate  breeze  shook  off 
The  dews  of  sleep,  and  the  flower  saw  the  moon. 

QTZ.     The  more  I  know,  the  more  I  then  shall  see? 

CH.     Deeper  the  world  appears  to  the  widening  mind. 

47 


QTZ.     Is  heaven  fair? 

CH.  A  solitude  of  peace. 

Where  he  who  wed  me  is  a  god  eterne ; 
My  sisters  two  gaze  upward  from  Mictlan 
And  often  woo  me  to  that  dark  abode, 
In  sisterhood  renewing  earthly  joys; 
But  loneliness  invades  the  realm  of  heaven, 
And  loneliness  abides  in  calm  Mictlan: 
Eternal  life,  eternal  death,  I  know; 
But  not  the  embraces  of  my  little  boy. 

QTZ.     Ah!     Return  hither! 

CH.  Sacrifices  may 

Never  be  offered  twice,  nor  be  recalled. 

QTZ.     See,  I  am  lonely,  too.     I  learned  today 
Of  sadness  and  my  mother.     I  attain 
Manhood  and  dare  to  ask  with  you  to  go. 

CH.     My  little  man  of  seven  years !     There  spreads 
A  labyrinth  of  fortune  at  your  feet, 
To  make  mankind  more  happy  and  more  wise! 
Heaven  is  ever  open  to  your  sight; 
The  gods  await  your  beckoning  command; 
Here  is  a  sacrifice  for  you  to  make, 
Still  to  abide  among  base-thinking  men 
And  lead  them  nearer  heaven  ere  you  go. 

QTZ.     My  thoughts  are  weary,  climbing  up  to  yours. 

CH.     Arise  in  arms  ethereal !     Lay  your  head 
Shining  so  godlike  through  its  case  of  clay 
Upon  my  insubstantial  breast,  and  strain 
Warm  thrilling  hands  around  my  formless  arm. 
(Chalchihuitzl  lifts  her  son  to  her  bosom.) 
48 


TECP.     He  rises  like  a  moth  into  the  air. 

TEO.     Tremble  to  worship  in  his  presence  dread. 

QTZ.     There  always  seemed  a  lack, —  I  knew  not  what, 

Until  this  precious  moment  brought  you  here. 
CH.     My  bird  has  reached  the  nest  he  never  knew, 

And  hungry  were  my  arms  him  to  enfold. 
QTZ.     Today  I  learned  of  sadness.     Now,  I  know 

What  happiness  may  veritably  be. 
TECP.     The  naked  sun  a  cloak  of  cloud  puts  on. 
TEO.     Shall  we  retreat  before  the  rising  storm? 
TECP.     Deserting  thus  a  child?     I  tarry  here. 
QTZ.     Who  comes? 

CH.  Two  friendly  gods. 

QTZ.  And  jewels  of  rain. 

(Descend  from  heavy  clouds  above,  Tlaloc  and 

Chalchiutlicue.) 

CH.     Their  treasury  is  limitless ;  for,  see, 
First  enters  Tlaloc  in  his  trailing  robes 
Of  filmy  gray,  and  feet  with  lightning  shod; 
Followed  by  her  who  rules  the  waters,  binds 
Her  emerald  skirts  beneath  a  rainbow  zone, 
And  leaping  diamonds  star  them,  like  the  skies. 
They  sing  a  lullaby  for  you  and  me, 
And  every  tree  sends  pattering  echo  up 
For  little  man  who  sways  in  mother's  arms. 

CHALCHIUTLICUE.     (Sings.) 
Comest  thou,  brother! 

From  the  palace  foursquare? 
49 


From  the  tumult  and  smother 

Of  courtiers,  and  glare 
Of  their  torches,  among  the  amazing 
Dark  mist  of  their  armament  hurriedly  raising? 

TLALO  c.     ( Sings . ) 

Comest  thou,  sister ! 

From  Tlalocan  paced 
Beside  me?     Whom  lustre 

Of  spirit  has  placed 
Co-monarch  of  clouds,  in  your  shining 
Convoy  of  subtle  green  serpents  entwining? 

CHUE. 

Thou  comest!     To  follow 

Where,  in  the  deep  azure 
A  goddess  has  traversed  the  hollow 

Abyss,  there  to  trace  her 
Soft  presence,  and  warm  the  dull  air 
Lest  she  die  of  an  earthly  despair! 

TL. 

Thou  comest!     To  warn  her 

No  goddess  abides ! 
Heavenflung  is  the  cry  of  the  mourner; 

Where  godhead  resides 
In  the  heavens  above  sorrow  and  cloud, 
Nor  remembers  how  death  weaves  a  shroud. 

BOTH. 

Shadowy  courts  of  the  Rain-King! 
Shattered  are  vases  four, 
50 


And  showers  of  pearls  are  breaking 

Among  oceanic   uproar 
Where  the  serpents  of  lightning  wallow 
Along  each  riverbed  shallow. 

CHTJE.     Tlaloc !     The  valleys  smoke  unto  thy  praise ! 
TL.     Chalchiutlicue !     Rivers     reflect     thy     serpents' 

ways! 

CHUE.     Our  crashing  cymbals  re-echo  along  the  clifts! 
TL.     Each  slave  of  ours  his  rainy  vase  again  uplifts ! 

CHUE.     (Sings.) 

Upon  earth's  ancient  altar-stone, 

The  daylight's  sacrificial  fire 
Relumes  each  heart,  that  would  atone 

With  prayer  as  all  its  hopes  expire ; 
The  hand  of  fortune  lifts  a  blade 

Whose  purpose  have  no  tears  gainsaid. 

i 

TL.    Oh,  fonder  mother  of  thy  child, 

Whom  she  in  nursing  has  not  lost ! 

Chimalman  is  the  victor  mild 

Though  death  from  motherhood  divorced; 

Oh,  heaven  itself  resigns  to  her 

The  key  to  entrance  everywhere! 

CHUE.     We  are  passing  with  the  clouds,  Chimalman! 
Hasten  thou!     The  daylight  of  gods  only  shines 
Momentarily,  lest  the  earth  dissolve  in  its  glory. 

CH.     I  must  return.     Boy,  I  adore!     As  a  storm 

51 


In  the  mountains  beats  thy  heart! 

As  the  depth  of  heaven,  my  love  for  thee 

Surrounds,  imbreathes,  eternally  beyond 

Storm-stress  or  heart-yearn,  thee  awaiting,  son ! 
TL.     Incense  of  earth,  the  grateful  land  is  sending 

Bird-song  and  cattle-cry  of  thankfulness; 

Chimalman,  god-wed,  thou  art  claimed  afar ! 
CH.     Grateful  am  I,  that  he  who  wedded  me, 

God  though  he  be,  forbids  not  to  remember ! 

CHUE.     (Sings,) 

Iztli  has  rent  the  sacred  veil 

By  Tlaloc  grayly  woven, 
And  freshly  warm  his  darts  assail 

Though  the  heart  of  earth  be  cloven : 
His  sharpened  lights  for  sorrow  poise; 

Too  bright  for  death's  behooving 
Is  that  open  breast,  whose  tender  joys 

He  may  not  smite  for  loving! 

TL.     (Sings.) 

Tlillan  enthrals  the  murky  crew, 

Whom  Tlaloc  summoned  hither ; 
Serpents  of  Chalchiutlicue 

To  purple  cloudland  gather ; 
Oh,  ancient  altar-stone  of  fate ! 

Whereon  forever  trembles 
Some  victim !     Bolts  of  Zuiven  wait, 
'Neath  which  the  altar  crumbles ! 
(Exeunt  upwards,  Tlaloc  and  Chalchiutlicue.) 
52 


CH.     As  they  withdraw  along  the  brightening  hills, 

I  must  desert  my  smiling  son  awhile. 
QTZ.     Mother ! 
CH.  But  not  forever !     For,  today, 

The  sceptre  of  a  king  I  give  to  you ; 

The  priest  and  king  approach.     Slip  to  the  grass, 

Dear  baby,  and  confront  them  as  a  god. 

(Tec  pane  alt  zin  and  Teoteuctli  come  towards  them,  as 

Quetzalcoatl  reaches  the  ground.) 
TEO.     My  lord,  the  shining  grasses  steam  with  death: 

Let  me  assist  you  to  the  palace  gate. 

Now  for  the  first  time,  I  know  you  divine. 
TECP.     Child!     Is    the    mother    gone,    you    dreamed 

about  ? 

QTZ.     No,  she  approaches  you. 
TECP.  I  see  her  not. 

CH.     The  King  of  Tulan  drained  his  cup  of  pride 

While  slipped  two  katuns  through  time's  fingertips ; 

Children  and  wife,  and  slave  and  man-at-arms, 

Have  kept  his  sovereignty  inviolate: 

But  the  pale  clutches  of  impatient  chance 

Upset  the  beaker!     Wife  and  promising  son 

Have  entered  Mictlan's  sacred  land  of  death. 

Oh,  Tecpancaltzin,  greedy  of  a  crown! 

Are  you  to  govern  a  deserted  home? 

Think  of  the  son  whom  Mictlan  shelters  now! 
TECP.     Ah,  Tecpanpilli!     Why  does  all  desire 

Die  when  remembering  your  departed  youth? 
QTZ.     My  mother  speaks  to  you. 

53 


TECP.  Ah,  was  it  she? 

Death  would  I  far  prefer  to  lonely  state. 

CH.     As  Chimalman  laid  merry  youth  aside 
To  bring  Lord  Quetzalcoatl  into  life, 
So  shall  you  lay  aside  an  earthly  crown 
For  him  and  Chimalman,  to  follow  forth 
Your  heart's  desire,  your  son,  into  Mictlan. 

TECP.     Dreary  is  death;  but  Tecpanpilli  died. 

TEO.     My  lord!     Regard  your  health!     For  circum 
stance 

Of  royalty  forbids  denying  life; 
Desertion,  no  vicissitudes  excuse! 

CH.     (Floating  nearer.) 

My  chilly  palm  caresses  from  your  brow 

The  furrows  that  a  crown  has  there  impressed. 

TECP.     Weariness  like  a  shroud  envelopes  me. 
(Tecpancaltzin  sinks  to  the  ground,  and  dies.) 

TEO.     My  king! 

QTZ.  Oh,  mother !     Cure  my  fathers'  ill ! 

CH.     Your  heavenly  father  has  proclaimed  you  king. 
TEO.     Furious  serpent,  sliding  through  the  grass, 

A  jewel  hast  thou  sheltered  in  thy  fangs! 

Insidious  death!     Tulan  so  poor  appears! 

The  king  is  sleeping  surely !     I  run  for  aid ! 

Lord  Quetzalcoatl,  leap  into  my  arms, 

That  I  may  shelter  you  and  help  the  king. 
QTZ.     Father  ? 

TEO.  He  hears  not. 

QTZ.  Mother ! 

64 


CH.  He  is  blessed. 

QTZ.     He  sleeps? 

TEO.  And  wakens  to  his  murdered  son. 

QTZ.     He  wakens  not! 

TEO.  Alas  !     You  are  the  king ; 

For  Tecpancaltzin  mourns  his  son  no  more, 
And  I  must  hide  you,  ere  the  Toltecs  know 
Their  mutinous  land  is  governed  by  a  babe. 

CH.     Farewell,  sweet  son !     In  kingly  pride,  remember 
Your  mother  still  she  is,  in  heaven  who  dwells! 
(Exit  ChalchihuitzL) 

QTZ.     How  sweetly  he  is  smiling. 

TEO.  Little  god! 

Such  smiling  rises  to  us  from  a  depth 
No  living  man  can  penetrate  and  know. 

(Enter  Quetzalpetlatl.) 
Qp.     Have  spirit-visitors  gone,  Quetzalcoatl  ?  — 

Father ! 

TEO.  Silence,  dear  children,  and  together  kneel 

As  I  entone  a  prayer  to  bless  his  sleep! 
Then  must  our  fugitive  selves  escape,  before 
The  brutal  rage  of  sudden- wakened  men. 
Alas,  the  oracle  who  spoke  of  you ; — 
"  Son  of  the  maguey  shall  be  Tulan's  king !  " 
Besides  the  reverend  and  tender  man 
Whose  fostering  hand  uplifted  Quetzalcoatl 
From  the  unmothered  infant's  pitiful  bed 
To  couch  as  kings  do, —  promise,  little  man! 

55 


That  as  he  lived,  you  will  desire  to  be ! 

Lest  that  unhappy  oracle  prevail, 

And  "  Soul  of  the  Maguey  shall  be  Tulan's  fall." 
QTZ.     I  love  my  father,  and  his  will  is  mine. 
TEO.     Repeat :     I  promise ! 

QTZ.  Such  I  promise  too. 

(The  children,  at  the  old  man's  imperative  gesture, 

kneel. ) 

TEO.     (Chants.) 

Great  Tonaca-tecutli,  who  has  used 

Weapon  so  weak  to  lower  upstart  men, 
We  prayed  to  keep  a  well-loved  king.     Refused, 

A  spotted  serpent  draws  him  to  Zuiven. 

Proud  fangs  of  death !     Spurning  the  monarch's  crown, 
Soften  thy  clutch  upon  his  human  soul ; 

Lest  errant  fact,  by  practice  overthrown, 
Deform  its  promise  of  celestial  goal. 

And  he,  whose  winged  childhood  climbs  the  height 

Of  empire,  by  a  moment's  wizardry! 
Be  he  confirmed  in  wisdom  and  in  light, 

Securely  faithful  to  the  divine  decree! 
(He  rises,  takes  a  child  by  each  hand,  and  walks  de 
jectedly  away.) 

(New  York  City,  May  21,  1908.) 


56 


TEOTEUCTLI 
LIST  OF  CHAEACTEES 

QUETZALCOATL,   "  Feathered  Serpent" 

king  of  Tulan.  .^^ 

TEZCATLIPOCA,  "  Smoking  Mirror,"  his 

heavenly  brother. 
TEOTETJCTIJ,  "  Divine  Lord,"  pontiff. 

HUEITEOPIXQUI,  "  High-priest,'^ 

rr,  ,,      .    ^  „  j-  His  attendants. 

TEOPJXQUI,     priest. 

NACA,  "  Flesh,"  the  victim. 

QUETZALPETLATL,  "  Feathered  Carpet,"  foster-sister  of 

the  king. 

ILANTLJ,  "  Old  Woman,"  her  grandmother. 
OME,    "  Second,"  1  Toltec    girls,     attending    Quetzal- 
YEY,  "  Third."      ]     petlatl. 

(Scene:  —  Interior  of  a  small  temple,  placed  on  top  of 
the  pyramidal  Teocalli,  in  the  outskirts  of  the  royal 
city.) 

(Priests  and  People  seen  passing  before  door,  arownd 
sacred  terrace,  bringing  statue  of  idol,  newly-dressed 
for  the  spring  festival  in  its  honor.) 

57 


Priests  and  People.      (Outside  chanting.) 

Scarlet  was  the  robe  he  wore,  the  great  Tezcatlipoca ! 

Shield  and  arrows  in  one  hand;  in  the  other,  a  lance 
of  justice! 

Terrible  his  frown,  beneath  a  crown  of  partridge 
feathers ! 

Now  is  the  earth  renewed!  Now  are  the  rains  de 
scending  ! 

Like  earth  to  continual  showers,  his  heart  grows  soft 
to  our  pleading! 

Aside  he  flings  the  bloody  mantle  of  justice,  standing 

Midnight-black,  and  wound  with  gold  as  the  clouds 
with  lightning! 

Divinely  black,  as  the  marble  image  which  we  wor 
ship, 

Decking  with  golden  bracelets,  breastplate,  ear-rings, 
hair-cord ! 

Precious  things,  bestowed  in  the  treasury  of  his 
power, 

Emeralds  swing  from  the  lip  and  shine  over  its  dark 
body; 

Glass  in  the  sockets  resembles  twinkling  eyes  of 
heaven ; 

The  mirror  of  truth,  adorned  with  golden  feathers, 

Waves  in  its  shapely  left,  outholding  the  right  hand 
to  mercy ! 

(Quetzalcoatl  enters  the  temple,  with  Teoteuctli  and 
two  priests  who  carry  idol  to  its  shrine  behind  the 
altar.  They  step  aside,  while  Teoteuctli  speaks:  — ) 

58 


TEO.     Fortress  of  justice,  in  garden  of  mercy,  thou! 

Tower  of  strength,  Tezcatlipoca,  thou! 

He  will  answer  your  supplications,  oh  people ! 

Fearful  as  squirrels?     Never  Tezcatlipoca! 

Harelike  timorous?     Never  Tezcatlipoca! 

Like  squirrels  his   foes,  and  run  like  the  hares  to 
cover ; 

Fear  is  unknown,  and  peaceable  thoughts  are  flouted, 

When  he  observes  the  foes  of  the  Toltec  nation, 

Abiding  in  Tezcatzontli  to  answer  worship. 
PRIESTS.     The  long  processional  returns  his  image 

Hung    with    new    jewels,    robes,    and    the    wreath 
Toxcatl ! 

Five  were  our  days  of  fasting,  ten  of  preparation ; 

Bring  we  hither  the  year-long  feasted  victim, 

Treated  more  kingly  than  kings  in  the  name  of  god 
head. 

Blackened  our  bodies,  aping  Tezcatlipoca ! 

Sweet  is  our  faith,  as  that  recalls  him  hither ! 

Slaves,  rejoice  for  a  day,  recovering  freedom! 

Maidens  smile,  as  permitted  to  bring  the  offerings; 

Youths  delight,  racing  to  win  the  maidens ! 
TEO.     Turn  now,  Hueiteopixqui,  who  attends  me, 

Taking  your  brother  priest  to  bring  the  victim; 

So  may  he  bear  our  sins,  and  cleanse  the  people ! 

So  may  Tezcatlipoca  bless  our  battles ! 

Return,  attendants,  to  the  shouting  highways 

That  festival  here  may  attain  completion 

In  sacrifice.     Remain,  Lord  Quetzalcoatl. 
(Exeunt  the  two  priests.) 
59 


QTZ.     Ten  weary   days   have   assailed   my   ears,   with 

pipings 

Of  your  pernicious  flute.     From  the  singing  birds 
I  heard  in  the  god-loved  fields,  am  I  recalled 
Merely  to  praise  your  minstrelsy,  my  friend? 

TEO.     Hastiness  of  your  ignorant  youth,  my  son, 
Compels  the  senseless  word.     My  flute  appeals 
To  listening  deities  momentously, 
Winging  on  pleasant  tones  to  their  abode 
And  bidding  their  attendance  here,  as  we 
Shall  celebrate  Tezcatlipoca's  feast ; 
Your  presence,  too,  my  magic  flute  demands, 
By  man's  estate  becoming  Tulan's  king, 
To  learn  the  rites  and  worship  at  the  shrine. 

QTZ.     Why  to  a  brother,  in  an  idol,  bow? 

TEO.     Tut !  tut!     The  festival  is  for  a  god. 

QTZ.     Son  of  a  god,  am  I ! 

TEO.  A  pretty  tale! 

Yes,  I  remember  how  your  mother  died, 
Branding  your  birth  with  murder  of  herself 
By  the  innocent  struggling  child.     Nevertheless, 
Her  dreams  of  heaven,  and  the  words  of  him 
Who  lately  ruled  us,  Tecpancaltzin,  rouse 
Nought  of  belief  in  one  who  knows  the  world, 
Save  as  a  simple  tale  of  a  maid  beguiled. 

QTZ.     Like  Chimalman,  of  heaven  have  I  dreamed ; 
On  Chimalman,  my  mother,  gazed  in  sleep ; 
Although  my  birth  brought  her  release  from  life, 
And  her  clayborn  ensheathement  saw  I  never. 

TEO.     Clayborn  are  you,  though  heavenly  was  your 
sire, 

60 


And  clay  born  man  is  he,  that  is  Tulan's  king; 
More  reverently  hold  your  tongue  in  leash. 

QTZ.     As  king  and  dreamer  of  the  gods,  I  dare 
Command  your  flute  for  breathing  by  my  lips. 

TEO.     Sacrilege ! 

QTZ.  I  am  a  priest. 

TEO.     Novitiate 

Of  seven  years  is  yours ;  and  at  fifteen 

You  are  a  priest  indeed,  with  a  godlike  look, 

And  heaven  within  your  eyes,  where  the  spirit  peers 

Into  a  world  beyond  its  earthly  frame; 

Shall  spirit  purge  your  carnal  lips  enough 

To  sound  a  flute,  that  summons  up  the  gods? 

Age  has  attempted  my  humanity, 

Sorrow  has  purged  me,  though  no  god  am  I ; 

You,  Quetzalcoatl,  are  afire  with  youth, 

And  all  the  pride  of  monarchy  attained! 

QTZ.     My  throne  is  Tecpancaltzin's  memory ; 
My  sceptre  is  the  counsel  that  he  gave ; 
My  godhead  spells  a  mother's  tenderness. 
Of  kingliness  or  spiritual  power, 
Occasion  shall  approve  me  the  possessor ; 
Untried  by  sorrow  or  experience, 
All  the  warm  fires  of  youth  that  you  behold 
Burn  but  for  worship,  and  this  clayborn  frame 
Only  an  altar  is,  that  shall  decay ! 
Such  sacred  flame,  as  life  is,  grows  more  bright 
Aspiring  towards  heaven's  brilliancy, 
And  youth,  in  music  finding  fuel  renewed, 
Beams  purer  exaltation  towards  the  gods, 

61 


Lend  me  the  flute,  oh,  Teoteuctli  grave ! 
The  song  within  my  heart  must  be  expressed. 

TEO.     Take  it.     Such  music  should  delight  the  god; 
You  move  my  heart.     I  love  you  like  a  son. 
Falls  like  a  cloak  my  age,  when  I  behold 
Your  wondrous  youth,  that  half  rejuvens  me. 
(Gives  the  flute  to  Quetzalcoatl.) 

QTZ.     A  double  voice  I  crave,  to  pipe  and  sing! 
(He  plays  on  the  flute.) 

TEO.     Ah,  but  a  chime  of  bells  you  must  have  hidden 
Under  your  arm! 

QTZ.  None  have  I. 

TEO.  Surely  'tis  so. 

How  can  my  flute  of  clay  such  melody  find? 

QTZ.     Tezcatlipoca,  as  a  brother  scowled 

Across  my  childish  thoughts ;  but  not  of  him, 
My  visions  are.     For  roses  overflow 
To  eastward  and  to  westward,  from  a  tree 
Immense  and  wonderful,  that  once  I  saw, — 
Where  ?     Ah,  but  where  ?     Such  roses  !     More  divine 
Of  scent  and  hue  than  fancy  might  achieve 
Or  barren  reality  discover  here. 
Ah!     Where,  I  say,  do  roses  such  as  these 
Reveal  themselves?     Music  shows  the  flowers. 
Unrealized  comes  sorrow.     Could  I  steal  them? 
I  feel  a  taint  of  sin  debasing  me 
From  some  imperious  crime,  unknown  before, 
Prenatal,  and  a  mystery  clouds  my  sense, — 
Of  what  ?     How  came  I  here  ?     When  did  I  know 
That  paradise?     Oh,  hideous  blank  of  birth, 
What  curtainest  thou  from  my  bewildered  mind? 

62 


TEO.     Give  me  the  flute,  my  gon;  before  your  fingers 
Break  it,  in  heedless  groping  after  truth. 
It  is  the  god  who  holds  converse  with  you. 
(Forcibly  takes  flute  out  of  Quetzalcoatl 's  hand.) 

QTZ.     No,  not  Tezcatlipoca !     But  I  see 
My  father !     And  he  does  not  storm  at  all. 
Only  his  eyes,  his  terrible  shining  eyes, 
Look  down  from  heaven's  uttermost  pinnacle 
On  me ;  though  nothing  do  I  read  therein 
Save  love,  so  great,  so  wonderful,  I  reel 
Beneath  it.     Strengthen  thou  my  earthly  mind, 
Eternal  father,  Tonaca-tecutli, 
Citlalatonac,  distant  Morning-Star! 
For  now  I  stand  revealed,  even  to  myself, 
Thy  son!     Memory  crowns  me!     Reason  speaks 
That  earth  should  know  my  godhead; 
Love  discerns  what  love  alone  reveals, 
The  truths  of  spirit.     All  this  world  of  hate 
I  fear  not,  nor  doubts  of  ignorant  men. 
The  perfect  love  of  the  pellucid  soul 
Is  more  than  life  or  death  or  memory, 
And  recreates  the  etherial  atmosphere 
Of  heaven  around  that  soul  in  clay  encased, 
Until  it  understands  its  destiny 
And  the  forgotten  facts  of  other  worlds. 

TEO.     My  son,  control  your  raptures ;  or  retire 
From  out  this  teocalli's  holy  height, 
Where  my  superlative  position  makes 
Necessitous  the  decking  of  its  shrine 
And  offering  sacrifice.     A  moment  comes, 
That  holds  no  place  for  song. 


QTZ.     Forbid  me  not 

To  exercise  such  offices  as  king 

As  should  beseem  me.     Quiet  locks  my  lips ; 

But  ignorance  profound  delays  my  hands. 

TEO.     Enlightenment   shall   come.     Hark!   where   ap 
proaches 

The  long  processional  around  the  hill, 
Along  the  teocalli's  rectangle, 

And  up  the  sevenfold  stairway  towards  this  door; 
While  the  reluctant  victim  treads  between 
Worshipping  ranks  of  people,  who  have  blessed 
With  every  granted  wish  his  vanished  year 
Of  happiness,  that  now  must  culminate 
Godward,  with  the  libation  of  his  blood. 

QTZ.     Death  for  a  human  being,  must  I  witness  ? 

TEO.     Such  is  Tezcatlipoca's  hallowed  law. 

QTZ.     Can  you  the  "  Heart  of  Heaven  "  contemplate 
Believing  such  to  be?     No,  if  my  brother 
Be  terrible,  the  God  of  Gods  is  kind ; 
Knowing  this  murder,  I  should  interfere. 

TEO.     Not  yours,  but  mine,  the  teocalli's  power; 
Avoid  displeasing  me,  Lord  Quetzalcoatl ! 
For  not  your  godhead,  nor  your  sovereignty, 
Defend  you  from  the  punishment  I  mete. 

QTZ.     They  come. 

TEO.  Silence !     Nor  dare  to  interfere ! 

It  is  the  royal  grandmother,  Ilantli, 
With  whom  Quetzalpetlatl,  too,  appears, 
The  princess  who,  some  claim,  should  rule  Tulan. 
(Enter  Ilantli,  Quetzalpetlatl,  Ome  and  Yey.) 
64 


ILAN.     Hail    to    you,    arch-priest,    and   to    shades    of 

kings, 
Although  no  king  here  guards  a  queen  dethroned. 

Qp.     Grandmother,  quiet  you !     No  queen  is  here ; 
Even  as  my  father  willed,  no  rank  have  I ! 

ILAN.     (To  Quetzalcoatl.) 

Sir,  you  have  bidden  us  from  the  convent's  close 

Hither,  to  wait  your  will  as  prisoners 

Whom  these  eight  years  have  weakened  and  subdued 

Into  obedience.     Think  you,  I  forget 

Years  of  my  queenship  in  Palpan?  and  later 

Years  of  queen-motherhood,  when  early  died 

The  pretty  wifeling  of  my  son  the  king? 

So  Tecpancaltzin  turned  to  me  for  aid, 

Until  that  hapless  morning  when, — deserted 

By  whom,  who  knows  ?  —  village-bred  Chimalman 

Prated  some  tale  into  the  kindly  ear 

Of  Tecpancaltzin.     She  one  year  forsooth 

Kept  him  at  arm's  length,  till  the  baby  came 

Who  crowded  our  fertility  of  joy 

With  strange  and  hopeless  thistles  of  deceit, 

Till  punishment  was  dealt  her  by  the  gods; 

Passed  Chimalman,  whose  sky-spun  veil  of  dreams 

Lifted  her  bodily  to  heaven's  hill. 

TEO.     Madam,  the  iterance  of  the  copper  bell 
Upon  your  bracelet  likens  well  these  facts. 

ILAN.     First  I  respected  her,  pitied  the  babe, 
She  dying  with  his  entry  into  life ; 
And  threescore  years  forgetting,  I  became 
Mother  again  in  feeling,  offering  you, 

65 


Lord  Quetzalcoatl,  equal  place  with  those 

Half-orphans,  Tecpanpilli  and  the  girl 

Quetzalpetlatl, — having  then  no  hint 

Of  the  ingratitude  which  would  appear 

Callous  in  manhood.     Malice  of  the  gods 

Slew  Tecpanpilli,  while  you  were  a  child ; 

Tore  from  Quetzalpetlatl  every  armor 

Against  your  proud  ambition?     Have  you  brought 

Shackles  to  symbolize  our  captive  state, 

Or  may  we  still  walk  fetterless  before  you? 

QTZ.     Mother,  I  have  in  tutelage  been  myself, 
Seven  years,  upon  Mount  Coatepec,  secluded 
In  a  calemac  as  rigid  as  the  tomb; 
Barely  a  day,  received  great  Tulan's  crown. 
Meseems  but  yesterday,  I  did  entreat 
Your  presence  here,  but  absence  chilled  regard. 

IL.     Tyrant,  as  stepping-stones  use  not  our  necks, 
Easing  the  ascent  to  Tecpancaltzin's  throne. 

QTZ.     In   deed   or   thought,   has    friendship   been   be 
trayed? 

Ii*.     Why  did  your  childhood  not  make  evident 
Its  malice  silencing  our  tongues  in  death? 

QTZ.     I  strove  to  right  such  injuries  when  noticed, 
Opening  your  prison  with  my  sovereign  key. 

IL.     Insolent  priest,  whose  robber-hands  bestowed 
Her  crown  upon  Quetzalpetlatl's  slave!     (Starts  to 
box  his  ears.) 

TEO.     Ilantli,  pride  to  madness  quickly  glides ; 
Your  shrilling  tongue  ill  becomes  such  a  place : 
Tezcatlipoca  frowns  !     Be  silent,  woman ! 

66 


(Ilantli    and    Quetzalpetlatl    withdraw    towards     the 

entrance  at  left.) 

Swing  now  your  golden  censer,  Quetzalcoatl, 
Whose  savors  of  sweet  herbs  appease  his  ire ! 
And,  maidens,  bring  your  offerings  to  the  gods 
While  priests  approach  with  the  human  sacrifice. 
(Ome  and  Yey  approach  the  altar.) 

OME.      (Sings.) 

Fairer  than  ivory  carven  with  human  fingers 

These  grains  of  rice  appear; 
Richer  than  weave  of  women,  the  color  lingers 

On  high-piled  blossoms  here. 

YEY.     (Sings.) 

Sheaves  of  maguey  blossoms,  like  the  cold 

Flowers  of  frost,  I  found 
In  the  mountain,  overseen  by  the  heavenly  fold 

Where  blossoms  of  stars  abound. 

OME. 

Urns,  whose  lips  run  over  with  pearls  of  grain, 

Whose  ample  hearts  are  full 
With  blood  of  the  pulque,  I  offer.     Nor  disdain, 

Oh,  god,  the  gifts  I  cull! 

YEY. 

The  garland  Toxcatl  adorns  thy  blackened  breast ; 

Oh,  frightful  one!     Perceive 
Us  humble!     Let  the  month  Toxcatl  attest, 

Our  gifts  thou  wilt  receive! 
67 


TEO.     Maidens !     In  heart  and  gift,  the  god  delights ! 
Received  are  prayer  and  portion ;  and  I  bless 
As  proxy  for  the  god  your  tender  years: 
Retire,  that  further  worship  may  ensue. 

(Ome  and  Yey  withdraw  into  background;  Teoteuctl* 
busies  himself  at  altar;  other  women  remain  silent; 
Quetzalcoatl  paces  before  the  altar  swinging  his  cen 
ser.) 

IL.     {Aside.)     Years  that  have  fled,  where  are  you? 

since  I  stood 

A  maiden  at  Tezcatlipoca's  shrine, 
Offering  gifts  like  these,  and  turning  found 
The  king  beside  me  smiling  beneath  his  crown? 

Qp.     Ay !  ah !     Grandmother,  that  was  long  ago ; 
Perchance  the  gods  walked  earth  at  that  great  day. 

IL.     They  say,  one  walks  here  now. 

Qp.  Is  it  readily  seen? 

IL.     His  lordship,  Quetzalcoatl  is  received 
By  some, —  who  is  not  I !  —  as  veritable 
Son  of  unearthly  Tonaca-tecutli, 
And  god  himself. 

Qp.  Some  one  laughed  in  his  sleeve. 

QTZ.     Godly  my  nature,  sister!     Fear  you  not; 
One  day  my  powers  will  be  known  to  you. 

Qp.     Pardon,  my  lord ;  I  meant  not  to  offend, 
But  the  golden  god  is  oversmeared  with  clay. 

QTZ.     You  are  my  sister;  should  I  be  enangered? 
Where  is  not  godlihead  by  friends  despised? 

TEO.     Impose  dark  silence  on  your  parrot-chatter! 
Stint  not  your  converse  at  the  proper  time, 

68 


But  here  be  reverent  to  our  ceremony, 

The  people's  shout  arises ;  the  victim  comes ; 

Retire,  Ilantli,  and  you  maidens  three 

Into  the  background.     Quetzalcoatl,  kneel 

Before  Tezcatlipoca,  and  entreat 

Lest  your  forgetfulness  have  made  him  wroth. 

QTZ.     Kneel  must  I,  to  my  brother?     No,  unto 
The  distant  gods  of  heaven,  I  will  kneel, 
Entreating  seals  of  their  approval  for 
A  better  era,  when  an  innocent  smile 
Shall  be  their  worship,  and  not  death  nor  fear ! 

(Teoteuctli  walks  to  door  in  background,  as  Quetzal 
coatl  bows  before  the  altar.) 

QTZ.     (Prays.)     A  wisp  of  spirit  to  my  body  clings, 
That  would  be  flying  heavenward  by  its  choice ! 
Of  god  it  is,  and  if  a  god  it  be, 
Grant  me,  Eternal  Father,  past  the  stars 
To  draw  my  inspiration  pure  and  cold, 
That  every  deed  may  be  instinct  with  good 
And  every  thought  lift  heavenward  my  soul. 
Life  is  a  fog,  wherein  one  light  must  guide 
Of  perfect  reason  and  unswerving  truth ; 
And  the  immoderate  hands  of  murder  raise 
A  horrid  cloud  around  the  trembling  flame; 
Not  in  the  name  of  god,  can  murder  thrive. 
Oh,  Powers  beyond  the  Stars,  make  potent  him 
Who  fain  would  shrive  this  temple  of  its  crimes. 
(He  rises.) 

(Enter  Priests,  carrying  Naca  in  a  crude  cage.) 
69 


PRIESTS.     (Chant.) 

Tezcatlipoca !     Of  this  mighty  land 

Of  Tulan,  mightiest  god!     Now,  by  thy  grace, 

Life  and  the  means  of  living  are  my  own ; 

Mercy  impart  for  my  laborious  hours, 

And  fill  me  with  thy  bounty.     Pity  me ! 

So  sad,  so  poor,  neglected  and  alone ! 

I  sweep  thy  temple ;  take  my  griefs  from  me ! 
TEO.     Before  the  god,  throw  every  care  aside; 

Thorns  to  the  brazier,  griefs  to  heaven  give ! 

Ye  come,  my  two  attendant  priests,  with  him 

Whom  the  bright  earth  delivers  in  her  stead 

To  the  devouring  vengeance  of  a  god. 

Alas !  that  so  our  sins  must  be  atoned ; 

But  earth  has  fed,  ere  she  destroys,  her  son. 

Before  the  idol,  bind  him  on  the  cirque 

Of  mystically-carven  altar-stone. 

(Priests  bind  Naca,  half -naked  and  prone,  upon 
the  altar.) 

Art  thou  prepared,  oh,  Naca!  for  thy  fate? 

Hast  thou  been  happy  in  this  passing  year? 
Hu.     The  ninefold  lords  of  midnight  wait  for  thee ! 
TEOPEX.     Bid    thirteenfold    farewell    to    the    lords    of 

day! 

NACA.     Where   is   my    straw-roofed   cottage?     Where 
the  eyes 

Of  her,  who  mourns  me  by  Lake  Tezcuco  ? 
Hu.     Has  not  the  maguey  blossomed  less  beauteously 

Than  the  fragrant  robes,  your  peasant  self  put  on, 

Rendering  sweet  the  produce  of  the  soil, 

70 


Ere  given  to  Tezcatlipoca's  hand? 
TEOPIX.     Happiness  paints  your  countenance,  that  so 

Your  blessed  death  reprieves  a  sinful  land. 
NACA.     Happiness?     Yes!     From  enemies  to  flee ; 

But  Tezcuco  unseen  my  longing  draws. 
TEC.     Hither!     The  god  is  hungered. 
Hu.     Remove  his  robe ! 

TEOPIX.     Mictlan  receives  the  monarch  of  a  year ! 
NACA.     Ah,  but  one  year  of  bliss!     How  many  years 

Laborious  in  bitterness,  I  mourned 

For  comforts !     Might  I  but  again  put  on 

Life  with  distress,  I  should  not  so  complain ! 
Hu.     Upon  the  altar  thrown  — 

TEOPIX.  With  limbs  bound  tightly  — 

TEO.      (Taking  knife,  and  suiting  action  to  word.) 

Lifted  is  the  sacred  flint,  and  the  scarlet  flower 

Blossoms  upon  his  breast,  and  the  hidden  jewel 

Lies  at  the  glaring  idol's  cruel  foot. 
(Naca  dies,  as  the  Teoteuctli,  severing  with  a  dark- 

bladed  knife  of  obsidian  the  victim's  breast,  tears  out 

the  human  heart.) 

Spirit  to  Mictlan,  heart  unto  the  god ; 

Such  sacredness  as  to  his  corpse  may  cling, 

Deliver  to  the  people,  that  they  may 

Thereby  a  portion  of  his  fortune  know. 
(Two  priests  carry  out  the  still- palpitating  corpse.) 
QUETZ.     Horrible  moment! 
TEO.  Silence,  till  they  go, 

My  two  attendants,  and  the  victim  move; 

The  god  has  feasted,  and  is  satisfied. 

71 


ILAN.     Lift    up    your    head,    my    trembling    grand 
daughter  ! 

His  body  consecrated  to  the  sun 
A  year-long  willing  sacrifice  awaited. 

Qp.     I  had  not  looked  on  death  — 

QTZ.     Torture  her  not! 

Between  your  palms,  hide  your  soft  gaze, 
Sweet  sister ;  like  you,  I  cannot  abide 
A  brutal  murder  as  a  virtue  praised. 

TEO.     Keen  critics  are  the  young;  but  for  advice 
Turn  to  a  graybeard.     What  fair  offering 
Instead,  Lord  Quetzalcoatl,  shall  you  find? 

QTZ.     Flowers  like  the  stars  of  midnight,  and  sweet 

thoughts 

Reflecting  heaven,  and  acts  of  charity 
Wherein  the  gods  may  find  an  earthly  sphere. 

(A  butterfly  alights  on  QuetzalpetlatVs  shoulder.) 

TEO.     Puerile  gifts  that  any  child  may  bring; 
To  those  who  give  life,  life  we  should  return. 

QTZ.     Life  of  less  costliness  than  human  then: — 

(He  catches  the  butterfly.) 
It  takes  too  many  precious  years  of  growth 
And  lessoning  to  make  a  perfect  man ; 
But  would  you  sacrifice  a  life  indeed? 
Behold,  this  butterfly  at  fingertip, 
Barred  with  the  colors  of  the  rainbow !     See 
How  in  my  fingers  break  his  delicate  wings, 
That  leaflike  fall  upon  the  terrible  feet 
Of  black  Tezcatlipoca !     Now,  the  keen 
Point  of  a  golden  pin  shall  prick  its  heart: 
Such  is  the  sacrifice  I  bring  alone. 


Qp.     Death  !     Is  there  nothing  less  a  god  desires  ? 

QTZ.     A  butterfly  might  ransom  thus  a  man ! 

TEO.     Peace!     Is  this  place  for  fooling?     Duties  call 
Lord  Quetzalcoatl  from  profaner  jests. 

QTZ.     Wearisome  grows  my  crown !     Yet,  tell  me  them  ? 

TEO.     This  day  from  the  seminaries  come  in  train 
Maidens  and  youths,  from  childish  chains  released 
Of  ignorance  and  feebleness,  by  touch 
Of  the  sacred  years.     This  day  gives  liberty 
From  heart  to  heart,  its  perfect  will  to  speak. 
Tezcatlipoca's  month,  lovely  Toxcatl, 
Permits  the  flower  of  love  to  find  perfection, 
Before  the  heat  and  storms  of  summer  come. 
The  nation's  marriage  month !     The  height  of  spring ! 
And  the  sacrificed  heart  of  him,  that  lately  died 
Before  this  statue  of  our  dusky  god, 
Is  merely  symbol  of  the  sacrifice 
Of  a  nation's  heart,  upon  the  altar-stone 
Of  the  world,  doing  his  mighty  will  in  all. 
Now,  might  Lord  Quetzalcoatl  do  a  deed 
Worthy  his  gracious  power,  having  by  will 
Of  the  almighty  gods  an  earthly  throne 
That  was  another's  by  the  right  of  birth, 
Withheld  from  him  by  death's  untimely  hand; 
The  realm  of  Tecpancaltzin  was  the  right 
Of  Tecpancaltzin's  son,  who  died  so  young, 
Leaving  as  heirs,  his  aged  grandmother 
And  the  one  lovely  sister  who  survives: 
So  near  to  you  in  years,  Lord  Quetzalcoatl, 
Quetzalpetlatl  is, —  your  very  names 

73 


Were  by  that  dead  king's  single  thought  conferred! 
Well  might  "  The  Feathered  Serpent  "  find  repose 
Upon  "  The  Feathered  Carpet."     Beautiful 
To  other  eyes  is  she ;  what  guise  to  yours  ? 

QTZ.     Marriage  is  a  duty  laid  upon  mankind, 
Keeping  its  passion  in  accord  with  heaven; 
But,  to  a  god,  is  mating  possible? 
What  spiritual  bride  awaits  in  heaven, 
Whom  might  I  here  displease  by  lower  loves? 

TEO.     Then  shall  Quetzalpetlatl  pass  unhonored 
Into  the  convent's  shadow;  while  the  joys 
Of  her  father's  court,  in  the  accustomed  past, 
Make  melancholy  all  the  years  to  come? 

QTZ.     Sweet  was  her  countenance  to  infancy ; 
Her  childish  fingers  guided  me  a  child 
Almost  as  large  along  the  palace  halls ; 
My  comrade  and  my  sister !     Do  I  seem 
To  disregard  your  honor?     Nay,  indeed, 
Remain  as  Quetzalcoatl's  queen,  and  rule 
The  female  half  of  the  kingdom ;  and  if  not 
As  wife,  console  yourself,  for  in  my  heart 
No  other  earthly  form  usurps  your  place. 

Qp.     I  am  content.     I  feared  you  had  forgotten 
Her,  whose  own  brother  dying,  now  regards 
You  doubly  brother,  and  like  father,  too. 

QTZ.     Shadow  may  come  across  your  guileless  brow 
Of  some  enchanting  figure  now  unknown, 
And  your  untroubled  heart  new  throbbing  learn ; 
If  such  thing  be,  make  known  your  thoughts  to  me, 
And  the  bond  that  is  no  marriage  shall  dissolve ; 
Your  happiness  I  look  for,  not  my  own. 

74 


Qp.     The  gods  of  love  have  overlooked  my  heart. 
QTZ.     Yet  fear  not  in  the  future  if  they  strike ; 

Confiding  speech  shall  cure  the  hidden  pain. 
TEO.     Your  words  are  not  so  wise,  Lord  Quetzalcoatl ; 

But  time  has  altered  things  for  many  a  man. 
QTZ.     Then  you  would  have  me  marry? 
TEO.  As  the  state 

And  your  own  happiness  demands  it, —  Yes ! 
QTZ.     Marry  I  will,  when  these  four  omens  come: 

When  on  the  oaktree,  chestnut  burrs  appear ; 

When  in  the  west,  the  sun  appears  to  rise ; 

When  over  ocean's  tide,  men  walk  dryshod; 

When  singing  nightingales  shall  raise  a  beard: 

Then  shall  I  know  the  time  indeed  is  ripe, 

For  Quetzalcoatl  to  find  marriage-yoke. 
TEO.     His  words  are  foolish ;  but  my  lord  is  young. 
QTZ.     Only  Quetzalpetlatl  shall  receive 

Protection,  such  as  sisterhood  demands. 
ILAN.      Small  redress  this  to  gain  for  a  stolen  crown. 
Qp.     Could  I  rule  alone?     Kingship  is  not  my  role: 

I  thank  you,  foster-brother,  and  retire 

Whither  you  will. 
QTZ.     Palpan  is  wholly  yours, 

Fortress  and  palace,  and  the  lovely  land 

Of  Tulan  shall  no  wish  of  yours  withhold. 
Qp.     Grandmother,  scowl  not!     My  delight  is  yours; 

Queen-mother  still  you  are.     Ome  and  Yey, 

Attend  me  as  your  custom  was  at  school : 

Brother,  I  will  at  Palpan  wait  your  will. 
OME.     Way  for  the  princess ! 

75 


YEY.  Quetzalpetlatl  comes! 

(Exeunt  four  women.) 

TEO.     Delay  you  here? 

QTZ.  A  moment  wfth  the  god. 

TEO.     Anger  no  further,  for  the  lightning-bolt 
Of  his  disfavor  might,  with  you,  enthral 
My  faithful  self.     I  leave  you  to  your  prayers. 
(Exit  Teoteuctli.) 

QTZ.     Brother,  how  comes  it,  that  a  god  enchained 
Should,  as  a  human  creature,  kneel  before 
Your  senseless  image  with  unshaken  faith? 
Brother,  if  genuflections  must  be  mine, 
Not  to  the  idol  but  the  god  I  kneel, 
And  claim  an  answer  from  a  brother  there. 
How  trod  we  heaven,  what  games  together  played, 
Forgetfulness  still  cheats  me  of.     Alone 
In  dreaming  of  the  gods,  discover  I 
Godhead  myself  and  claim  your  brotherhood. 
By  Zuiven's  height,  and  Mictlan's  deep  abyss, 
By  Tonaca-tecutli's  mutual  love, 
From  marshalled  hosts  of  heaven,  I  summon  you : 
Tezcatlipoca,  as  a  god  appear! 
A  shadow  clouds  the  teocalli's  height, 
A  brilliancy  invades  the  inmost  shrine, 
A  voice  of  thunder,  and  a  breeze  assails ; 
And,  brother  to  a  god,  I  face  him  here ! 

(Enter  Tezcatlipoca.) 

TEZ.     Son  of  the  heavens,  forbear  to  use  your  powers ! 

76 


QTZ.     Wherefore?     In  dread  of  comrades  of  the  past? 

TEZ.     You  feared  return  to  heaven. 

QTZ.  Did  I  so? 

TEZ.     The  baby  loses  what  the  spirit  knew. 

QTZ.     Frighted  of  heaven's  roses,  was  I  then? 

Oh,  blessed  memory,  lift  high  the  veil! 
TEZ.     Thief  out  of  heaven,  how  dare  you  to  assail 

Unsullied  brothers  with  your  fallen  plea? 
QTZ.     Humanity  has  stolen  heaven  from  me ; 

Return  I  shall,  if  thence  I  truly  came ; 

But  fearful  am  I  not,  of  gods  or  heaven. 
TEZ.     Forbear ! 
QTZ.  Discern  you  not  a  warning,  too, 

Whom  I  nor  fear  nor  worship,  and  have  called 

Hither  most  honorably  to  inform, 

Henceforth  no  bloody  mimes  of  murder  shall 

Ascend  from  Tulan's  worship  at  your  shrine? 
TEZ.     Forbear ! 
QTZ.     Between  my  heavenly  father  and  my  soul 

Such  ties  of  love  remain, — no  guilty  act 

Of  sacrifice  shall  intervene  to  gods 

Less  worthy  worship  and  less  amiable. 
TEZ.     Forbear!     A  brother's  anger  in  a  god's, 

Innumerably  strikes  on  earthly  scenes ! 
QTZ.     Fear  is  unknown  to  me;  teach  me  its  guise. 
TEZ.     To  heaven,  I  go ;  to  earth,  I  shall  return ; 

A  god's  revenge  will  poison  your  delight. 
(Exit  Tezcatlipoca.) 


77 


QTZ.     (Sings.) 

The  wind  of  east,  the  wind  of  west, 

The  winds  of  south  and  north  may  blow ; 
Of  body  bruised,  but  spirit  blest, 

The  son  of  man  on  earth  must  go ! 

The  great  wind-voices  call  to  me, 

Earth-bound  as  man ;  and  now  my  soul 

Arises  like  the  great  winds  free, 

To  spheres  beyond  their  rude  control. 

I  touch  the  Universe's  brim ; 

The  secret  of  the  stars  I  read; 
And  past  all  heavens  I  climb  to  Him, 

Who  is  the  Lord  of  Life  indeed. 

With  men,  I  taste  of  pain  and  care, 

While  battling  with  dull  nature's  hate ; 

With  gods,  a  sturdy  soul  I  bear 
To  foil  the  fourfold  winds  of  fate. 
(Exit  Quetzalcoatl.) 

(New  York  City,  June  14,  1908.) 


78 


XTACUNBIL  XUNAN 
(The  Hidden  Lady) 

The  Hidden  Lady's  eyes  are  chalices 

Wide-open,  drinking  in  the  honeyed  views 
Of  temple  corridors,  all  white  with  peace 

Save  where  are  scattered,  through  the  still  purlieus, 
Statues  like  retributions,  hard  and  strange, 

With  faces  of  grave  spirits  militant, 
And  carven  glyphs  along  the  walls  to  range 

The  painted  visages  of  god  and  saint. 

The  Hidden  Lady  opens  with  each  flower, 

To  the  first  glimmerings  of  morning  light 
Seething  across  the  forest,  like  a  shower 

Of  feathers  from  Kukulcan's  wings  in  flight, 
As  the  tremendous  godhead  cleaves  the  tides 

Of  darkness,  and  the  lesser  tribes  look  up 
From  wattled  huts,  where  human  weakness  hides, 

For  one  long  draught  at  his  reviving  cup. 

How  frames  the  Hidden  Lady,  all  day  long, 
Those  glowing  hours  into  her  life  serene? 

She  kneels  beside  her  loom,  and  times  a  song 
To  the  rapt  weaving  of  her  shuttle  clean ; 

79 


She  moulds  fresh  biscuits  from  the  shredded  grain, 
Whose  tithed  flakes  oblation  are  designed 

For  Kukulcan,  whose  altar  stands  within, 
Ever  attended  by  her  suppliant  mind. 

The  Hidden  Lady  passes  to  the  porch, 

Whose  cloistered  pillars  mark  her  kingdom  small, 
While  her  still  spirit,  like  a  faithful  torch, 

Fills  the  dim  sanctum  of  the  oracle; 
She  sits  and  broods  beneath  a  ceiba  tree, 

Where  doves  may  coo  a  word  into  her  ear 
Of  the  surprising  thoughts  of  deity 

Working  its  will  above  this  mundane  sphere. 

Sometimes  a  roll  of  maguey  scrip  unrolled 

Shows  the  fantastic  outline  of  a  god, 
Not  as  she  dreamed  of  him,  a  cloud  of  gold 

Ethereally  illumined,  lightning-shod; 
But  the  pale  tracery  of  some  brother-priest, 

Knowing  a  deeper  mystery  than  she, 
Who  sees  Kukulcan  like  a  man,  released 

From  frailties  of  our  mortal  misery. 

(July  14,  1914.) 


80 


ZUBAK 

(The  Flute) 

While  my  untutored  fingers  strive  to  range 
The  flageolet's  intricate  labyrinth 
Of  holes  and  keys,  pitfalls  to  clumsiness, 
But  ceaseless  wells  of  melody  for  skill, — 
Remembrance  brings  the  blackbird's  fluting  near 
On  Mosholu,  when  Maytime  meadows  bloom, — 
Or  summer's  yellow-warbler,  perched  a-peak 
The  Jersey-pine's  new  bud  in  Central  Park! 

How  many  generations  of  the  birds, 
Red-winged  and  golden-breasted,  have  made  sweet 
The  jocund  May!     How  many  buried  seeds 
Have  shaken  cone  and  tassel  to  the  spring! 
How  many  paradises  of  the  year 
Bloomed  to  the  sun's  touch,  ere  I  footed  earth 
And  untaught  fingering  of  my  flageolet 
Endeavored  to  repeat  the  piping  bird! 

Bright  heaven  above  inspires  to  minstrelsy; 
Indian  and  white  man,  who  before  me  came, 
Loved  the  same  hills  and  almost  the  same  trees ; 
And  the  soft  flute  of  poesy  takes  up 

81 


The  strain  a  flageolet  cannot  achieve! 
Bright  heaven  above  is  like  a  crystal  bell, 
Repeating  all  the  chimes  of  history 
Rung  out  by  hardy  hands  departed  long! 

(May  7,  1908.) 


TO  WILLIAM  H.  HOLMES 


Proud  Uxmal's  height  is  crowned  with  towers 

Uprising  from  a  forest-net 

Gigantic,  that  brings  wondrous  freight 
Of  architecture's  primal  powers ; 
Who  strove  with  rod  of  patience  here, 

To  measure  ruined  slopes  of  doom, 

Balance  the  records  of  the  tomb, 
Reveal  the  ancient  atmosphere? 
The  dovecote's  crumbling  solitude, 

The  altar  trenched  for  sacrifices, 

And  art's  most  heathenish  devices, 
Were  prizes  of  solicitude 

To  William  Holmes,  who  thus  could  write 

Prose  epics,  precious,  erudite ! 

(June  28,  1916.) 


83 


TO  EDWARD  H.  THOMPSON 

(Cacique  of  Chichen-Itza.) 

"  Lord  of  the  Wells  of  Itza  " !     Inspiration 
You  bring  my  poet-soul  for  fresh  creation 
In  skyey  mirage,  where  the  bubble  blue 
Re-stages  oldtime  dreams  in  bright  review: 
You  took  a  city,  ruined,  desolate, 
A  graven  gem  of  undeciphered  date, 

Lost  in  the  jungle's  tropic  isolation; 

You  raised  an  empire  from  oblivion's  fate, 

Revivified  its  shattered  history's  clue ! 

Token  of  chieftaincy,  the  jaguar's  claw 

Of  horrid  ivory,  came  to  overawe 

Tame  spirits  with  the  wild's  imperial  breath, 

Borne  from  the  jaws  of  full-fleshed  furry  death; 

You  brought  it  to  the  halls  of  Washington, 

Sweeping  the  past  into  our  ken,  reknown 

Its  mystery-webs  of  fate  in  old-time  law, — 
Ix-chel's  design  of  rainbow  radiance  spun 

For  the  compelling  cry  of  Mayan  faith. 

From  Chichen-Itza's  stone  arises  Pop; 
Brown  Uo,  declining  Zip  and  Zodz  mount  up 

84 


The  thrones  of  twenty  days.     Beaked  Zee  and  Xul, 
Fresh-flavored  Yaxkin,  and  re-instinct  Mol, 
Follow  the  year's  aphelion.     Ch'en  replies; 
New-feathered  Yax,  white  Zac,  and  Ceh  arise ; 
Mac,  yellow  Kan-kin,  crested  Muan,  slope 

To  brightening  summer.     The  drum  of  Pax  replies 
To  Kayab's  turtle-roll,  and  Cum-ku's  rustling  maize. 

The  Bacabs  four  lift  into  turquoise  skies, 
Golden  processional  of  time's  device ; 
The  Lord  of  the  Ascendant  leaps  to  prime! 
Ik,  Akbel,  Kan  and  Chicchan  bring  a  chime 
Of  day-bells.     Cimi  comes,  and  Manik  then 
Sets  Lamat  upright.     Muluc,  Oc,  Chuen, 

Eb,  Been,  Ix,  Men,  Cib,  Caban,  Ez'nab,  time 
Cauac,  Ahau,  Imix,  Xma-kaba-kin, 

Into  the  Brazier's  open  orifice! 

Conquest  destroyed  the  year-count;  but   restrained 
From  damage,  frail  clay-objects  ruin-stained, 
Dug  from  the  dewy  earth.     See,  the  symbolic  pipe 
Of  springtime  here  displays  life's  fountain,  ripe 
With  onward  progress,  borne  by  unseen  hands 
Where  the  enthroned  disc  of  light  commands 

Futurity  upon  the  wind-cross,  pillar-chained, 
Upon  the  slavish  head  of  earth!     The  type 

Of  tribal  hope  in  resurrection  stands ! 

Whom  Maya  wasted,  Chichen-Itza  brings 
To  hail  a  milder  day,  cenote  springs 

85 


Of  purer  drainage,  from  the  toiling  hands 

Of  your  swart  laborers.     Your  thought  commands 

A  better  era  on  that  ancient  field 

Of  idol-worship,  whose  carven  relics  yield 

Thompson- Ahau,  their  best  cacique !     The  wings 

Of  quetzal  hover,  as  the  jaguar's  shield, 
Slaying  the  serpent-thought  of  heathen  lands ! 

(May  9,  1916.) 


86 


TO  PROFESSOR  MARSHALL  H.  SAVILLE 

New  England's  son !     Marshall  Howard  Saville ! 
You,  my  friend!     Ardent  delver  in  fields  of  the  past! 
Who  drags  from  the  forgetful  dust  such  cleverly-carven 

work, 

Tools  of  the  artisan,  hewn  marbles,  moulded  potsherds, 
Tracing  by  the  lamp  of  genius  that  wonderful  defaced 

scroll 

Of  the  ages,  hidden  by  civilization  to  render  itself  im 
mortal  ! 
From  the  cross-fashioned  chapels  of  Mitla,  "  City  of 

Death," 
To  the  "  tolas  "  of  the  Scyri  of  Quitu,  the  jewels  of 

beauty, 
Truth    and    love,    expressed   by    the    self-devotion    of 

peoples 
On  natural  earth,  sentient  to  God  in  her  orbital  passage 

through  time, 
You  have  collected,  inscribed,  ticketed,  properly  placed 

in  museums, 
Interpreted,    and   described   for   the   wonder   of   lesser 

minds ! 


87 


Sturdy  toils  and  patient  wonder-work  of  science 
Preserve  from  the  past  all  but  the  fugitive  soul !  — 
Where  goes  that  soul?     Does  it  live  in  the  maguey 

records, 

Traced  in  daring  linear  fantasy,  by  Aztec  scribes? 
Lives  it  in  the  exquisite  bas-relief  of  Itza  kings, 
Lofty-crowned,  adorned  with  many-tasselled  garments, 
Calm   of   countenance,   whom    the   dreamy    worshipful 

design 

Of  the  Itzapalapan  sculptor  framed  in  columns 
Of  stone-craft,   with  hieroglyphs  of  the  noble  ruling 

race  ? 

Lives  it  in  the  altar  overthrown  by  jungle-growth, 
Or  the  sculptured  heads  of  Izamal  teocalli? 
The  voice  of  thought  fills  not  those  lips  of  stone ! 

But  a  dream,  a  mist  of  hope,  an  unimaginable  spirit 
Influences   the  glyph-strewn  panels   in   the  temples   of 

Palenque, 

And  the  totemic  macaw  or  cockerel  scatters, 
Throughout  the  future,  spirit-seed  for  the  forest  of  life ! 
The  fugitive  soul,  rebound  in  the  shackles  of  faith, 
Returns  to  its  ancient  home,  to  its  reverenced  altar, 
Returns  to  its  one-time  ways,  and  renews  its  oaths ; 
Forgetful  of  hope  to  be  saved  in  Christ,  our  Saviour ! 

Jewel,  dark  of  eye,  purple  with  the  utmost  heavens, 
Overlimned  with  crescentic  corruscations, 
Comes  into  my  wondering  thought,  a  gift  from  the  dust, 
Buried  by  obstinate  love  of  life  in  a  tyrant  monarch ; 


A  thought  of  kings,  dark  with  their  own  libation  of 
crimson  drops 

Upon  that  jewel  called  life!  Buried  in  the  dust!  Re 
vived 

With  the  "  Sheaf  of  Ages  "  !     Bound  by  immortal  souls, 

Themselves  the  harvest  sown  again  by  death! 

Ensheafed  at  the  cycle's  end,  by  Mexico's  turbulent 

ruler, 

Bound  up  were  all  the  nation's  spirits  of  purpose, 
Enscrolled  for  the  vision  of  truth  in  clarification; 
So  at  Tulan's  fall,  the  curbed  and  brutal  people 
Led  by  the  Lord  of  Hell,  Tezcatlipoca, 
Burst  from  the  merciful  leash  of  Quetzcalcoatl, 
And    changed    from    insubstantial    tribute    of    fading 

flowers 

Again  to  the  magnificent  festival  of  death, 
Pyramided  in  suffering  human  flesh ; 
Twelve  centuries  ago! 

The  wandering  tribesmen 

Placed  stone  on  stone,  laid  pedestal,  named  the  years : 

Tochtli,  for  the  leaping  rabbits  of  time; 

Acatl,  for  the  cane-grove  of  fertile  earth; 

Tecpatl,  for  the  obsidian,  needle-edged  knife  of  death; 

Calli,  for  "  the  house  above  "  preserved  by  the  Father 

of  All 
To  his  uplifted  faithful-hearted  children. 

A  thousand  years  passed  not,  before  the  deliverer 
Sped  like  a  golden  wedge  from  the  eastern  dawn-gate, 

89 


Leading  the  Christian-manned  caravels  of  wider  hopes, 
And    militant    angels    protected    from    gray-rushing 

waters 
The  stems  of  its  innocent  ships.     Warned  by  prophetic 

dreams, 
Arose   the  trembling   cacique,   uptwirling  his    fan   of 

feathers, 

From  prayers  intoned  within  Chapultepec's  palace 
Overlooking  the  lakeland  surrounding  Mexitl's  city, 
And  called  the  faithful  souls  of  his  feudal  tribesmen 
Into  the  god's  embrace ;  amalgamating  the  cities 
Into  one  empire,  upborne  in  stately  oneness 
Tenochtitlan,  with  Tezcucan  and  Tlascalan  sisters, 
Garnering  tribute  from  Oaxaca  to  Chihuahua. 

"  At  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  age,'*  so   came  simul 
taneous  , 

Prophetic  forewarning  from  lips  of  many  priesthoods, 
North  and  south,  from  Cholula's  hill,  from  Mayapan, 
And  all  unknown  to  them  far  south  another  one  sang 
Before  the  courts  of  Incas  from  Pachacamac's  altar: — 
"  So  will  the  white  men  come   out  from  the  eastern 

brightness, 

Born  of  the  dawnlit  foam,  breasted  above  the  billows 
Of  utmost  space,  in  glory  of  gold  and  ships  onrushing." 

Montezumatzin  strove  then,  with  utmost  rite 
Of  twisting  wizardry,  to  spin  out  a  weft 
Of  immortal  war,  breathing  its  bitter  purport 
Upon   the   Mexican   winds.     Where    soon   his    faithful 
subjects 

90 


Festered  away  in  mine-damp  for  Spanish  lust, 
Fell  Montezumatzin,  fell  his  gilded  court, 
Fell  the  exquisite  flower  of  intellect 
Which  prophetically  pierced  the  depths  of  coming  doom- 
But  their  "  sheaf  of  years  "  forever  bears  to  future 
A  woeful  tale  of  bitterness  in  resolve, 
Their  fury  of  worship  before  the  low,  obsolete, 
And  repulsive  idols,  supposed  symbols  of  lofty  ideals, 
Hallowed    by    a    spiritual    mirage    of    vain,    deluding 
dreams. 

Ignorant  these,  of  the  perfect  and  loving  Godhead, 
Whose  erring  children  stumble  on  towards  truth, 
Bred  in  the  whiteness  of  His  holy  love, 
Whose  Image  anew  in  the  leaven  of  Jesus'  words 
Should  recreate  sweetness  of  life  in  the  soul  humane! 

Beyond   them    the    centuries    rolled;    the   world    grew 

lovely, 
Cherub-cheeked,  whirling  joy  ward  in  blue  abysses  of 

heaven : 

But  evermore  the  tightening  scrolls  entwisted; 
Ever  the  "  sheaf  of  years  "  drew  near  to  its  day  of 

doom! 

Can  it  be  true  that  theoretic  reincarnation 
Self-explains  the  mysterious  ways  of  men? 

Viceroy  and  slave,  Aztec  captive  and  Spaniard, 
Long  have  reposed  in  the  fraternity  of  death ; 
Five  hundred  and  twenty  years  from  premonition  of 
conquest, 

91 


In  the  year  of  Our  Lord,  one  thousand  nine  hundred 

and  fourteen, 
Re-wakens  the  blast  of  death,  like  the  opening  door  of 

a  furnace, 
Sweeps  through  the  mountainous  borders  of  Mexican 

statehoods ; 

Popocatepetl,  Jalapa,  Uxmal,  Tehuantepec,  Tulan, 
Like  a  human  volcano,  arouse  to  onswept  revolution, 
Torn  from  the  silver  chains  of  civilization. 

On  Torreon's  field  a  pyramid  of  human  bodies, 
Heaped  by  the  hundredfold,  commemorate  return  of 

passion ; 

Brother  fights  brother,  till  the  tale  of  death  be  told! 
Diaz  gone,  the  master  of  the  white  man's  rule, — 
Madero  comes, —  murdered  by  the  tools  of  Huerta, — 
Villa  drives  out  Huerta, —  Carranza  outlaws  Villa, — 
Zapata  overawes  the  southern  country, 
Relinks  their  trap  betraying  friends  of  valor ; 
A  thousand  battle-fields  yield  up  their  record 
Of  brave  lives  idly  thrown  to  the  dogs  of  hell ! 

Are  they  soldiers  of  today,  who  thus  brutalize  them 
selves  ? 

Are  they  not  rather  the  men  of  Montezumatzin, 
Building  again  that  mighty  "  sheaf  of  the  years  "  ? 
Unconsciously  re-obeying  commands  of  primeval  idols, 
Dimly  returning  to  the  code  of  life,  lived  long  before 
And  forgot,  reborn  to  a  gentler  dispensation? 
Be  there  troubles  ahead  in  another  half-millennium? 

92 


Can  they  ever  remember,  and  break  these  oaths  of  evil? 
Must  ignorant  souls  be  slaves  of  eternal  error? 
For    these,    such    as    these,    came    Jesus,    the    Living 
Saviour ! 

Upon  earth's  other  hemisphere,  what  tale  runs  loud 

Of  Assyrian  oaths  re-lived?     Egyptian  bondage 

Renewed,  in  the  unremembering  souls  of  reborn  vassals? 

Think  they  of  human  loves?  By  these,  were  they 
bound  in  old  time! 

Think  they  of  worship?  By  faiths,  are  they  long  for 
sworn  ! 

By  their  primal,  instinctive  emotions,  was  the  ancient 
bond 

Woven,  to  preserve  tyrannical  status  in  tribal  law! 

By  these,  were  they  to  remember,  being  reborn !  By 
these, 

Sin  comes  again,  reborn  unrestricted  instinct ! 

What  is  a  man,  but  —  man  ?     Highest  of  animals, 

If  he  control  not  his  soul,  humanity  fades ! 

Reborn  as  a  beast  would  be,  in  the  unchanged  mould, 
Primitive  mind  is  untaught,  in  spite  of  the  schools ; 
Cro-Magnon    of    instinct,    shame-hid    in    trammels    of 

speech ; 

Hindu  in  symbols,  their  debased  meaning  forgotten; 
Assyrian  of  culture,  by  absolute  worship  of  self ; 
Egyptian  in  luxury,  desiring  all  physical  joys; 
Greek  in  perfervid  life,  yet  fearful  of  dreams ; 
Roman,  the  slave  of  resurrected  gods  of  passion : — 

93 


Forgetful  are  such,  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Pure  White 
Doorway, 

Giving  the  Star  to  Truth,  opening  Life  to  wisdom, 

Saving  all  men  in  Him,  destroying  the  gyves  of  knowl 
edge, 

For  "  One  who  ruleth  His  own  soul  is  greater  than 
takers  of  cities  " ! 

(May  5,  1916.) 


STORM  ECHOES 

The  storm  of  souls  crowd  up  the  sky, 
To  beat  at  heaven's  gate  their  wings ; 

Nor  ever  stops  one  heart  to  sigh 

For  vanished  homes  and  passionings. 

Where  are  their  pulses  of  desire? 

Where  the  dim  beauty  of  their  youth, 
One  moment  crowned  with  battle-fire, 

Distorted  to  the  ghost  of  truth? 

The  battle-rage  is  blown  to  dust, 
The  carnage  dead  like  memory; 

And,  colder  than  the  snowdrift's  crust, 
A  storm  of  souls  crowd  up  the  sky! 


(March,  1916.) 


95 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS 

The  shadows  of  the  great  gods  rise, 
Tearing  the  gates  of  Paradise 

With  passions  great  and  strange ; 
Bewildering  on  earth  and  sky, 
They  struggle  with  humanity 

And  mighty  hopes  derange. 

Amid  the  din  of  trampling  feet, 
A  voice  too  pitiful  and  sweet, — 

For  archangel  devised, — 
Comes  like  a  bird  from  utmost  heaven 
Amid  the  storm  of  passions  driven, 

The  little  weeping  Christ ! 

One  man !  —  One  God  of  tenderness ! 
To  break  the  terrible  duress 

Of  ancient  evil's  chain : 
How  clean  have  men  those  temples  dressed 
Wherein  the  Living  Lord  is  blessed, 

When  Christ  shall  come  again? 

He  overtrod  the  glistening  stars, 
In  days  like  these  of  hideous  wars, 

To  plant  a  golden  leaven; 
Thou,  mighty,  loving,  tender  Christ, 
Who  makes  with  every  heart  a  tryst 

In  the  vestibule  of  heaven ! 

(February,  1916.) 

96 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


PS 

3539 

Tll5c 


